What’s in a weed
Good morning! It is Friday PM and I’m wondering what the heck the weather will be doing by the time you read this. Let’s crack in…
What I'm obsessing over this week
When I first started gardening, I was (as everyone is when they first start a new passion) very righteous about what should and shouldn’t happen in a garden. All weeds- well, they’re weeds, aren’t they?- should be removed.
We have a big client- both in their size, their garden size, and our contract size, and when I started I was a bit shocked. False valerian coming out of all of the concrete walls, honeysuckle growing atop all of the railings, agapanthus NURTURED, english ivy everywhere…
Thankfully (you won’t believe me but) I know when to keep my mouth shut. I did ask if some things could/would be removed, and the result was a confused stare- well, what will I put there instead?
What will I put in the cracks in the concrete!? I don’t know! Are you serious?!
Time has somewhat mellowed me and lately I have been of the opinion that if it isn’t going to strangle all of the other plants, if it looks nice and has some use, if it would leave a big empty spot, if it won’t self seed everywhere, can’t I just leave it be?
I am looking at climate change, looking at gardens where an aggressive weeding will result in empty spaces, and I’m wondering.. what makes a weed a weed? At some point we might have nothing able to grow in these spaces at all… if I can’t put something more virtuous in its place, why don’t I just leave the damn thing?
We have Mexican daisy, ivy, tradescantia, montbretia and karamu here underneath this holly hedge. You’ll be pleased to hear that if we remove them, the steep bank will be bare and potentially crumbly.
A lot of these decisions are down to plant knowledge and ID, so we are going to focus on this with staff next week and see what we come up with.
What staff learnt about this week
Our weekly focus was getting rid of all of the plants in the nursery, because we are about to move work sites.
Highlights: SO MANY PLANTS needing good homes. About 5 bags of lime found their way into gardens that have hard clay soil. Every citrus tree we came across has been liberally fertilised.
Lowlights: It’s been a bit sad having native trees (that get enormous) unable to find new homes. I’m going to keep trying to offload them!
Flowers in bloom this time of year
Forget me nots and calendula are at their best. Dwarf comfrey is looking beautiful. Ornamental cherries, and a lot of fruiting trees are flowering- early plums seem to be finishing up.
If you want something for this time of year, to add some interest, look into dwarf comfrey. It is a great ground cover, good for the soil and is very inoffensive.
Thanks everyone. Right now I am having breakfast with my Auntie, and driving the new ride on mower down from Hawkes Bay. Then we just have to work out how to ride it on Saturday arvo- my friend Seb is going to teach me when I pick it up, but we will be a few beers deep on Friday night when that happens. Youtube and the John Deere manual will hopefully get me through!