What Nature does best is grow forests. When we stop interfering, mowing the lawn, ploughing the fields, grazing herds, the forest comes back real fast. It first takes root as pioneer species (the so-called weeds) that create soil for more advanced species such as shrubs and trees. Trees provide shade and wildlife habitat, cool the air by emitting water droplets, sow clouds, sequester carbon in the soil and produce oxygen. All kinds of positive actions to help us with our climate problems. If it’s in our interest to plant forests, then why not let Nature do it? Why not live and let grow? Perhaps because it is not always nice and appropriate at first. It does not always comply with municipal by-laws. And it doesn’t always grow in the right place, like on my corner lot in the suburbs. A forest there could block the view of cars turning the corner. It’s not safe. How about getting rid of streets and cars? But that’s another story…
My situation
The front yard of the house we are renting is covered with river stones. A rock garden is supposedly less maintenance than a lawn. False! It may look nice in the early years, when weed barrier does its job and nothing grows. (Although rocks create heat islands, see my blog How to Reduce Urban Heat Islands?) But! Over the years, the leaves, branches, etc., of nearby trees fall on the stones and create soil on TOP of the fabric. Weeds then take root and proliferate.
So I ended up with a rocky yard invaded with weeds. Neighbours didn’t like that. So, in the early years, I religiously pulled the weeds from the rocks. One by one. By hand. It was extremely tedious. Then, I watered the yard with a mix of boiling water, salt and vinegar to stop them from growing. It smelled like chips! But it still grew back. After a few years, I got tired of working against nature, poisoning the soil and destroying life. I decided to let the “weeds” grow.
Did you know? Weeds are not bad per se. Rather, they are unwanted plants that grow in the wrong place at the wrong time. And unwanted is subjective. Most of these plants have extraordinary properties when you know how to use them. Well-known weeds, such as dandelions, plantains, and clover, which some people strive to eradicate from their lawn, are not only edible but extremely nutritious. Salad, anyone? Not to mention that they feed bees at times of the year when food is scarce.
Weeds are hardy plants that put up with very little and even grow in the asphalt cracks. Many have deep roots to get the water and nutrients deep in the soil and bring them back to the surface. They are pioneer species, the first plants to set root on bare ground, to tend to the Earth’s wound. That’s right, any exposed soil is an injury for our planet, a sore that it tries to heal. So if you want to get rid of weeds, plant something else instead. Everyone will be happy!
How to let grow
To live and let grow, there are still some steps to follow:
- Observe: At first, do nothing. Just look for a while at what nature is trying to do.
- Where are the sunny places? Where is the shade?
- Where does the wind come from? The dust? Noise?
- Are there elevated areas or water accumulations?
- Where are the walking paths? Where do you go most often?
- Are there fences where the wind and birds drop seeds and organic matter?
- Identify/Inventory: Familiarize yourself with the plants that grow on their own in your yard. To help you, you can use an app like PictureThis.
- What are the names of the plants?
- Are they perennial or annual?
- What are their properties? What is their size at maturity?
- Are they useful? Are they beautiful? Can we eat them? Do they feed animals or the soil?
- Are they noxious or invasive?
- How do they spread? Through their roots, through their seeds?
- Select: Based on the information collected, decide which plants you want to keep and where. Foster their growth by feeding them (see my Chop and Drop post) and by pulling the other plants around them. Over time, the pampered plants with end up crowding out and shading out the other weeds, and they will save you some work!
- Complement: Fill in the gaps with other plants of your choice (edible or not) or thick mulch that you need to reapply regularly. In short, cover the ground, because if you don’t, Nature will! So you might as well have your say in what will grow.
What I did
After observing and identifying the plants that grew on their own in the rocks, I began to do some selection. I kept the most beautiful and useful, and I pulled out the least desirable, like ragweed that causes allergies. (I do care about others!) And there’s no poison ivy or strangling vines in my yard.
Let grow weeds
By doing (almost) nothing, I found myself with all of this:
- Two elms sown by the wind from the tree across the street. They are well located in the centre of their flower bed. One of them is now more than 12 feet high. There could have been dozens more, as well as maple trees, if I had let them grow.
- A field-strawberry groundcover under one of the elms. To encourage their growth, we created soil for them by letting the chopped elm branches decompose under the tree (see my Chop and drop blog). This year we were able to eat handfuls of delicious mini strawberry in the spring.
- Black-eyed Susan and Echinacea clusters that settled at the base of the flower beds. The wind or the birds probably carried the seeds there and it looked nice, so I let them grow.
- Milkweed, the plant of choice for monarch butterflies that must be protected from extinction. These plants become fairly tall (1.5 m), so I mostly let them grow along the fences.
- Horsetail, which look like grass from afar and make a great scrubbing brush.
- Bushes of cow vetch. It is a cute climbing/crawling plant with small purple flowers, which fix nitrogen in the soil and feed butterflies, bees and birds. I occasionally trim it when it overdoes it and I place the scraps under the plants I want to feed (another form of Chop and Drop!)
Complement
To make the whole landscape look a little more “planned,” I’ve added plants here and there:
- Hostas received from a neighbour, which I divided and planted along the driveway.
- Perennial groundcovers (yellow alyssum, candytuft, aubrieta and rock soapwort) that I grew from seed indoors and transplanted outside into half toilet paper rolls. They make beautiful flowers in the spring. I alternated them to create color patterns (pink, yellow, pink, yellow).
- A herb spiral in the flower bed to always keep my herbs nearby (see my Herb Spiral post).
- I also plan to add homemade stepping stones to make it easier to walk among the plants (see my Papercrete Stepping Stones post)
Live and work less
Maintenance now boils down to removing the few undesirables (especially poorly located young trees) and occasionally trimming the groundcovers to keep them at an “acceptable” height. I found a nice little hand tool for this task: a grass whip. It’s fun, you can practice your golf swing and grass fly all over the place. It might spread the plant seeds, though. So it is best to avoid using it on undesirable plants that we don’t want to broadcast.
Conclusion
You wouldn’t believe all the wildlife these plants attract in our yard: insects, birds, chipmunks, rabbits… Just by letting grow. And, in our backyard, raspberries appeared, on their own, behind the lilac. I can’t believe that all these years I was pulling them out!
From a simple weed puller, I became a maestro. It’s fantastic to live and let grow! Try it! You too can help save the world, one tree at a time.
Latest posts
- Climate Scarves: A Colourful Way to Launch Conversations
Do you worry about the future of our planet? If you find it hard to talk about climate change, you could get one of my knitted climate scarves to help start conversations. - Build Your Own Wonderful Herb Spiral
Have you ever heard of herb spirals? What are they? What is their purpose? How do you build them? This article will answer all of these questions and more. - Jerusalem Artichokes: An Incredible Plant to Discover
Is this ginger or misshapen potatoes? Nope! But, like potatoes, they are edible tubers. Unlike potatoes, they are perennials, which mean they grow back every year. They are called Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes. Read further to learn more about this versatile plant. - Fall is Here! Cook Up Your Green Tomatoes!
The first frost is looming. How can you use up your green tomatoes before the end of the season? Bake a green tomato cake! And heat up your house at the same time! - Papercrete Stepping Stones
What is papercrete? Why did I chose that material? How to make stepping stones using papercrete? You will find all those answers in this post.
