It would be great to see a subforum dedicated to weeds

I don't think anyone is suggesting a garden FULL of these....a bit of live and let live maybe? I did say I recognised that some weeds are pervasive (i.e. a nuisance/problem); of the ones you list, horse tails and particularly Japanese knotweed stand out to me.

I am sure you know that - for instance - catching a dandelion flower before it gets to the seed ball stage (where its seeds disperse in the wind) will stop it spreading. Easier than digging up its root unless you want to poison your soil with a weedkiller.

Creeping buttercup and pretty white daisies, to me, are graceful additions that adorn a lawn. I think it's quite sad that there is a kind of fascism about how a lawn should look.....so restricting, unimaginative, static and blinkered! Conventionality is overrated in my opinion.

 

@rosebay

Daisies are harmless little things and it's a shame that some people dislike them in their lawns so much, they add a bit of colour and charm.

Buttercups are nice too. But Creeping Buttercup... now that is a different beast and can make lawns look a real mess. What they do in flower beds is even worse and I've spent 3 hours this afternoon digging them up and chasing the roots that spread all over the place, and they've found safe havens under 20+ year old Hydrangeas, so they'll be back with a vengeance soon. But I've got their card marked and the next occasion may be chemical warfare, but even that may be impossible because they are growing underneath and inside the Hydrangeas.

A little live and let live is fine but many of the weeds I mentioned aren't a case of oooh, a crepping buttercup there... how sweet. Or, my aren't those burdock plant's pretty yellow flowers nice before they turn to seed and infest your borders with hundreds of seedlings, which next year could be thousands.

 

Well I always thought there was something funny going on there..... Two brothers and one girl------ no wonder the kids are the way they are today

 

Careful now, even weeds have feelings you know!

 

What happened there?

Edit : Sorted

 

When I was a kid my Nan used to clean for one of the wealthiest men in our town. He had an area for Dandelion (leaves for his salad) and a huge area for nettles (both for eating and for nettle tea for the garden).

 

I had a different take on it...that Bill and Ben made no sense because they were close to weed...

 

Ahh, but was he a member of GC?

 

Err........

Is that why Longk said it was for the garden

 

A nettle infusion makes a great hair tonic as a final rinse.

Also soup from the young nettle shoots (simmered with a large, chopped onion and then pureed).

Before they seed, nettles can be used as a mulch in a vegetable garden.

Young nettles are high in nitrogen and make a good fertiliser (I have the method in my wild plants book).

A nettle spray to combat black fly on roses (I have the details if anyone is interested).

Also they are good for composts, being natural activators.

 

Which is probably why I didn't mention it...did you add sugar/honey?
Can't say many herbal teas appeal to me.