On 2013-07-19 21:45:07 +0100, Pete C said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2013-07-19 18:16:01 +0100, Spider said:

On 19/07/2013 16:44, Sacha wrote:
I like the sound of this book, William Edmondâ?Ts Weeds, Weeding (&
Darwin) and have just ordered it. Thinkingardens has a review of it by
Barbara Abbs. http://thinkingardens.co.uk/

It does sound very interesting. I wonder if there is a guide to weed
seedlings to aid recognition. Do you know?

I don't, I'm afraid. I read the review on thinkingardens and ordered it
from Amazon because this whole thing of 'what is a weed' is quite
interesting, I think. I've always let clumps of loosestrife grow in
gardens I've had because I love it and we let some coral or black
bryony grow here because birds like the berries. I'll let you know
when it gets here. Of course, definitions of 'weed' may vary but that's
part of the thinking as far as I can see.

Surely, a weed is a volunteer plant where you don't want it?

Well, that's the famous definition, so we then move into the territory
between gardening, which implies a management of land to a considerable
degree; then allowing a certain amount of the land to produce wild
flowers or 'weeds' and then deliberately cultivating native species or
others not considered as 'ornamental' in a cultivated garden. I love
herb Robert and am happy to let it flit about here and there but the
article I linked to talks of Alchemilla mollis as a 'pernicious weed'
because it sets seed everywhere. It's a plant I like very
particularly, so that habit is, to me, a very attractive one! But one
of the reasons I've bought this book is to read another dimension on
all this.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk