As Dad always says, there is no point in doing something unless you do it well.
A job like weeding is only satisfying when you have time to make a thorough execution of the task: decimation will not suffice; annihilation is the goal. If the flowers are really crowded, it’s alright to cut away the tallest of the invaders, but repeated sniper attack is required to hold them at bay, and only hand to ground contact can eradicate the roots. I reject chemical warfare out of hand.
My family thinks I’m nutzoid (for many reasons), but especially at this time of year, because of my passion for weeding. In my view, there is no point in being namby-pamby about this. Mind you, I can go for quite a while without pulling a single lamb’s-quarter. Compulsion only swallows me up when you can’t see the flowers for the weeds... and when, like any addict, I succumb to that first extraction.
It was with shock and disbelief a fellow gardener pointed out to me there were noxious weeds in my garden. Purple loosestrife was the only problem I remember hearing about. There is a difference between noxious weeds and invasive plants, however. Purple loosestrife, for example, escaped from flower gardens and made itself at home in Nova Scotia wetlands – choking out our native plants. It is an invasive weed. Loosestrife is now being controlled through the cooperation of two species of beetle.
A noxious weed is a plant which harms management of agricultural or natural ecosystems. The Nova Scotia government website* “These weeds may be highly destructive, invasive, competitive, difficult to control, and may be highly toxic.”
There are some volunteers I have allowed to flourish in the garden - field daisies, plantain, vetch, some visually intriguing grasses and milkweed. The milkweed grows tall, crowned with a blossom unremarkable in colour, but with the power to call a buzz of busy bees, and, I hope every year, a colony of monarchs. This plant must be thinned back severely every year – it shows intentions of choking out everything else.
“From the point of view of the Monarch Butterfly, it is primarily the Ontario populations of Common Milkweed that are most important to its breeding in Canada. The enforcing of noxious weed legislation in some provinces - like Nova Scotia - could impact peripheral colonies of Monarch Butterflies.” **
What a shame!
Milkweed is listed as a noxious weed*: “Common milkweed is a competitive plant and can absorb water and nutrients more effectively than many crops, thereby reducing crop yields significantly. The thick sap of the milkweed can gum up machinery; the fluffy seed is known to clog air intakes. It is highly toxic to poultry, can poison sheep and cattle.”
After consulting the government website, it seems my garden grows hedge nettle, tansy ragwort and yellow nut sedge, as well as milkweed.
Good thing I like weeding!
Weblinks:
www.gov.ns.ca www.gov.ns.ca**
www.monarchwatch.org
