{"id":19892,"date":"2023-05-09T15:47:11","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T19:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/?p=19892"},"modified":"2023-05-09T15:47:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T19:47:11","slug":"what-is-a-weed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is A Weed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

TI have friends who are into wine-making. They occasionally come to my yard, dig up dandelions, and take them home to make dandelion wine. I\u2019ll never forget visiting them and walking around their huge yard, noting a nice-sized bed of dandelions. There was one lone blue bachelor button growing in the corner. Without even thinking, my friend bent down and pulled it out. I would have been doing the opposite- growing a bed of blue bachelor buttons and pulling out the dandelion.<\/p>\n

New Thinking About Weeds<\/h3>\n

This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define a weed as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it. Wild blue violets growing in my side flower bed are weeds. Wild blue violets growing in the shady, damp backyard where grass won\u2019t grow are not.<\/p>\n

Some plants become weeds when they spread into areas where they\u2019re not wanted happily. Houghtonia (Chameleon Plant) is a pretty little perennial groundcover with pink, white, and green leaves. To say it spreads prolifically is an understatement. It took over a side bed and choked out two pretty little Japanese Painted Ferns. They were no match for that prolific little perennial.<\/p>\n

Is It a Weed?- It Depends<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m watching a Polygonatum Variegatum (variegated Solomon\u2019s Seal) devour my side flower bed. It spreads through thick, sturdy rhizomes\u2014which have made such a dense mat that my columbines can no longer poke through. Is it a weed? Yes\u2014and no. It\u2019s an aggressive spreader but an attractive perennial. In a wooded area where it\u2019s not in competition with anything except trees, it\u2019s a perennial. In my side bed with columbines, it can choke out, well\u2026..<\/p>\n

Ornithogalum Umbellatum<\/strong>, or Star of Bethlehem<\/strong>, is a spring-blooming bulb with beautiful white star-shaped flowers. It makes copious amounts of baby bulbs, and this little sucker also reseeds. In the spring, I do find myself admiring the showy star-shaped flowers in my neighbor\u2019s flower bed while they are pulling them out of areas (including their lawn) where they don\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Mint<\/strong>\u2014do we even need to mention mint? I always grow mint in containers. Even then, you should let them bloom because pollinators, like the insignificant flowers, cut them back before they set seed! I always grow lemon balm (a mint family member) in a big pot on my deck (repels mosquitoes). I forgot to cut off the flowers. The following spring, lemon balm was coming up between the slats in the deck.<\/p>\n

Solving the Case of Mystery Plants<\/h3>\n

When you have a strange plant growing in your yard or garden, and no one can identify it, try potting it and letting it grow. If you like what you see, it\u2019s not a weed. If you don\u2019t like what you see, it is a weed\u2014for you, at least.<\/p>\n

My neighbor may be mystified by the clover I over-seeded in my backyard when he has gone to such great lengths to kill his. Io me, clover isn\u2019t a weed. I love how the puffy white flowers look like little fat snow bombs on the lawn. I love sitting on my deck and watching little brown \u201cSkipper\u201d butterflies and honeybees dancing from flower to flower, and I also love watching the occasional baby bunny nibbling on those tender little leaves. And I especially like that I don\u2019t have to mow it!<\/p>\n

Weeds Are in the Eye of the Gardener<\/h3>\n

At any rate, whether or not a particular plant is a weed is up for debate. Some people call Buttercups a weed. I love them. Some people call dandelions weeds\u2014but my friend does not. Any plant that becomes a pest can be called a weed.<\/p>\n

My Final Word on Weeds<\/h3>\n

My final word on weeds is, \u201cThere are no hard-and-fast rules in your garden. Move it if you like it but don\u2019t like where it is. If you don\u2019t like it, it doesn\u2019t matter what it is. Get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more posts from Bonnie, visit our blog<\/a><\/p>\n

Return to the Great Big Greenhouse homepage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TI have friends who are into wine-making. They occasionally come to my yard, dig up dandelions, and take them home to make dandelion wine. I\u2019ll never forget visiting them and walking around their huge yard, noting a nice-sized bed of dandelions. There was one lone blue bachelor button growing in the corner. Without even thinking, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bonnie Pega\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bonnie Pega\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9caaa16cfa2b2b79d2b0bafe898d91\"},\"headline\":\"What Is A Weed?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\"},\"wordCount\":698,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bonnie's Garden\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\",\"name\":\"What Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Dandelions are considered weeds to some, and not to others. What is a weed to you?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Is A Weed?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\",\"description\":\"The plants you expect. The people you know. The experience you\u2019ll remember.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GBGH-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GBGH-logo.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":315,\"caption\":\"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9caaa16cfa2b2b79d2b0bafe898d91\",\"name\":\"Bonnie Pega\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/author\/bonnie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","description":"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","og_description":"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/","og_site_name":"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","article_published_time":"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bonnie Pega","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/"},"author":{"name":"Bonnie Pega","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9caaa16cfa2b2b79d2b0bafe898d91"},"headline":"What Is A Weed?","datePublished":"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/"},"wordCount":698,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg","articleSection":["Bonnie's Garden"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/","name":"What Is A Weed? - The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-09T19:47:11+00:00","description":"This began to change my thinking about what constitutes a weed. Now I define weeds as anything growing where I don\u2019t want it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/bonnie-blog-weeds.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Dandelions are considered weeds to some, and not to others. What is a weed to you?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/what-is-a-weed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is A Weed?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/","name":"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","description":"The plants you expect. The people you know. The experience you\u2019ll remember.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#organization","name":"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GBGH-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GBGH-logo.png","width":400,"height":315,"caption":"The Great Big Greenhouse Gardening Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9caaa16cfa2b2b79d2b0bafe898d91","name":"Bonnie Pega","url":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/author\/bonnie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19892"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19896,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19892\/revisions\/19896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}