“Weeds”, really? | The Press

For many, they are unwanted. Plants not invited into our gardens that we tear off at the slightest growth because they are probably harmful, invasive, even toxic. What if the so-called “weeds” weren’t all the same?

Valerie Simard
The Press

“Is it a weed? is to horticulture groups on Facebook what “Does it freeze?” is at recipe sites. This frequent question, even redundant, but still relevant, is nevertheless more complex than a story of freezing.

Is the Canada anemone, a very pretty hardy native species with its small white flowers, a weed? The question was debated in mid-June on the Jardins et potager Québec group! A few days earlier, wood sorrel, an edible plant with a sour taste, was the subject of discussion.

“A weed is a term which is not specific and which is very vague”, remarks Aïda Setbel, head of horticultural activities and social affiliation for Sentier Urbain. “If I have a tomato growing in the middle of my beans, it’s a weed, but in another context, I want it, my tomato! »

This summer, in the Jardin d’art of the Grande Bibliothèque, the social greening organization wishes to restore the status of neglected native plants. In addition to the animation of workshops and the exhibition Weeds — unrecognized, unloved presented in collaboration with BAnQ, Sentier Urbain cultivates plots there, one of which is devoted to these left behind. But not by all, since it is the plot most frequented by bumblebees, bees and butterflies.

Agastache fennel, purslane, orange hawkweed, willowherb: “There are some that are perhaps less aesthetically beautiful, but these are not plants that are ugly! says Aïda Setbel, who has completed studies in sustainable development and is training in horticulture.

Among the defenders of “weeds” or those that are also more kindly called “weeds”, the thought of the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson is often quoted: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. It is also said that there are no weeds, only plants growing in the wrong place.

“’Weeds’ is a term my colleagues and I try to avoid,” says Joshua Jarry, Horticultural Information Officer at the Botanical Garden. It can refer to a multitude of plant species, most of which are not bad in the sense that they are not harmful to humans or the environment. »

“Like the so-called invasive plants, this expression manifests our denaturalization”, noted the French ethnobotanist François Couplan in an interview with the daily Free Maine. “In a tidy, clean world, weeds, those that have not been planted, sown, look “dirty”. They must therefore be eliminated. »

An ardent defender of wild plants, he has published numerous books on the subject, including Welcome garden weeds!, published by Larousse in 2021. In this book, he questions the Manichean vision that we have of plants and wishes to convince gardeners to welcome spontaneous shoots. After all, many of these wild plants are edible (wild carrot, butternut mallow, wood sorrel) while others are simply beautiful to look at (daisy, forget-me-not, spike cone).

Although the Botanical Garden’s horticulturists exercise tight control over so-called undesirable plants, Joshua Jarry believes that we would benefit from being more open at home.

“Often, gardeners will say: it’s a fight we can’t win. Instead, I suggest thinking about cohabiting with the plants that live on our lawn. Those who generally settle there, it is because they have the potential to grow in our soil. »

The botanical expert of course rules out invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed or those that are harmful to health such as ragweed from this approach, but certainly not the dandelion, which sees its image enhanced with the Dandelion Challenge movement to which joined the Botanical Garden as well as many municipalities last May.

To begin to tame the “undesirables” on his land, he recommends integrating clover into his lawn. “If we think of a green and uniform lawn, clover becomes an undesirable, but it is beneficial for its contribution in nutrients. It will not take up all the space and its flowers will attract pollinators. »

Leave or tear?

What to do with the shoots that are unknown to us? “The answer is complex because there are some plants that are very difficult to recognize in the shoot state,” says Joshua Jarry.

“If it’s just a plant that I don’t like aesthetically, there’s no harm in letting it grow. But there are others, for example, Japanese knotweed, as soon as you recognize it in the growing state, you want to pull it out. It’s incredibly invasive. »

Apps like PlantNet and Picture This can be useful for identifying unknown weeds, but results are limited with young shoots. Curious to know what was growing in her garden, Montrealer Geneviève L’Heureux conducted an experiment in 2020. As soon as a new shoot emerged from the ground in her Villeray yard, she put it in a pot to make it grow and eventually l ‘identify.

“There were trees around that were dropping seeds, and I was constantly busy weeding,” she says. I thought to myself: wait, what am I weeding? Because at one point I removed dill and had never planted dill. »

The urban agriculture and permaculture enthusiast wanted to find out what was growing in her garden and learn more about the composition of the soil. She discovered there, in particular, amaranth, lady’s thumb and market garden sowthistle.

Did she save them? No. “That thought, I haven’t quite answered. If you give way to a plant that will gobble up the nutrients of your vegetables, it’s not good. But if it grows naturally, why wouldn’t we let them have their place? »

Tips for incorporating “weeds” into the garden

Dedicate plots to them

As Sentier Urbain did, we can dedicate a plot of our land to wild plants or put them in pots! In town, many owners allow the spontaneity of nature to express itself on the façade.

Research

Many books and applications allow you to identify plants native to Quebec. By knowing their growth potential, toxicity or edibility, it is easier to decide whether or not to keep them.

find the balance

It’s up to you to decide which sprouts you want to keep. Eliminate the most invasive, those that are dominant, those that overshadow those you have planted or that would be tempted to take their nutrients. “The faster a plant grows, the more nutrients it needs to complete its life cycle,” observes Joshua Jarry. But it’s not uncommon to see gardens in summer that may not be as weedy as you’d like and still give a good yield. »