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Vegetable, Flower and Weed Question

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  • Vegetable, Flower and Weed Question

    Sorry if this is in the wrong place but I could'nt work out where to put it and the Vine does not have a numpty question section.
    So
    Are weeds a specific classification within the plant family even though there are many that can be eaten such as chickweed, dandelion and nettle?
    What kind of plant consitutes being called a weed? - it can't just be based on it's invasiveness because borage, comfrey and jerusalem artichokes spread and are difficult to get rid of.
    Who decided what was and was not a weed?
    I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

    Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

  • #2
    A weed is:


    A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants

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    • #3
      Struth - its that simple derrrrr!
      I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

      Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

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      • #4
        You decide for yourself.
        A weed is simply a plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants that you do want.
        For instance, if you absolutely adored thistles, and cultivated a bed full of them, then if a lupin grew among them and you hated lupins, it would be a weed and you would pull it up.

        I love foxgloves and let them self-seed everywhere, but I know some folk who would pull out every seedling as a weed. It's personal choice.

        edit - you beat me to it GL
        Last edited by mothhawk; 25-12-2014, 06:53 AM.
        Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
        Endless wonder.

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        • #5
          So weeds only exist in the eye of the beholder!
          In which case I am proud to announce that I have no weeds in my garden at all. I do however have a stunning collection of indiginious plants that make friends with all the others.
          I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

          Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

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          • #6
            I'd like to think like that Lumpy but ground elder really takes over, horrible stuff that is hell to get out if left to spread

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Greenleaves View Post
              A weed is:


              A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants
              I have a simpler definition

              "A weed is a plant in the wrong place" ...
              K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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              • #8
                I think the definition of Patrick Whitefield in The Earth care manual makes a lot of sense. Because permaculture encourages polycultures there is no wrong place, so his definition of weeds is plants in the wrong quantity.

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                • #9
                  The natural gardener can find a use for most weeds

                  Except I'm unable to find the silver lining in cinquefoil
                  All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                  • #10
                    TS = I found this if it helps -

                    Properties Cinquefoil is edible and medicinal, young shoots and leaves are edible in salad or cooked as a pot herb. The plant contains large amounts of tannins making it very astringent. A medicinal infusion made from the root is used in alternative medicine as an astringent, antiseptic, and tonic, used as a mouthwash for "thrash" and taken for dysentery and diarrhoea.
                    I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

                    Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I just need your address, so I can send them all to you
                      All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                      • #12
                        If my garden was bigger I would take them but...
                        I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

                        Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

                        Comment

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