[Herbalist] RE: "Killer" plants

Wendy Freeman/Otte wyllowmacm at netscape.net
Fri Jul 26 06:34:57 PDT 2002


>>
>>Do us all a favour, please:  KILL THIS STUFF !!  I hate it.  Despise it.
>>loathe it, even.  Don't let it get out!
>>
Please don't advocate genecide on an entire plant, just because it is a pest in your neighborhood!  That's why we are losing our world's diverse resources.  As a dyer, I have to fight to find good sources of some of the most basic dyestuffs - nettle, goldenrod, thistle - to name a few "outlaw" plants.

A better attitude is to learn to recognize what plants need to be controlled or avoided for your area.  Regions differ greatly.  The first thing I did when I moved from Calontir to Ansteorra was to contact the local wildlife groups and determine which plants were banned, which were considered nuisances, and which did well in my new region.  (My frost date changed from May to January!  And pumpkins are impossible down here.)

Then I planned my gardens - native pretties in front, herbs on the walking side, poisonous dyes on the non-walking side, vegetables around the sandbox, and "weeds" deemed safe in the ditch behind my fence (I decided on blackberries - I needed an invasive shrub to hold up my bank & fence.)

My current "noxious weed" war: tree sprouts.  But I'm not going to kill the tree that's dropping the seeds - I've decided on a containment battle.  And I truly wish my mint & strawberries would threaten to take over, instead of just hanging on for dear life.  I planted them in contained beds on purpose!

So, some pithy sayings to close:
One gardener's weed is another's delight.
No plant is bad - just its location.

--Wyllow MacMuireadhaigh



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