All the Dirt on Gardening

Weeds of Oklahoma palmer amaranth Weeds must be the most adaptive plants on the planet. No matter where you garden, weeds quickly move in.   Shade, baking sun, soaking soil, wind – none of those conditions can prevent weeds from planting their feet in soil that few other plants would tolerate. Richard Mabey, England’s favorite garden writer, thinks we should love weeds and even respect them.   His new book, “Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants” is a good read, even though it probably will not convince many gardeners to embrace weeds. Weeds of Oklahoma Blue mustard One of Mabey’s friends says that he never weeds his vegetable garden because weeds provide shade and moisture for the roots of his vegetable plants in the heat of summer. And, maybe we could all relax a little about our gardens’ uninvited plants. In many neighborhoods there is a mixture of landscape and garden styles. Some have a lawn of native plants or weeds and others have carefully plante...