Conner Lee, Naturalist Educator
I’m sure everyone has seen a “weed” before, out in the park, in your backyard, in your garden or lawn. To some capacity everyone has seen one at some point in their lives, but what did that weed look like? Was it broad on the ground with a yellow flower on top? Or maybe it was prickly on its leaves and stem and had a purple flower. It could even be a group of little leaves and white flowers you see scattered in your backyard. The truth is, all of these are different plants, each different species. So, what makes a weed a weed? The answer, botanically speaking, is nothing. There is nothing in their biology that designates them as a weed. They are only weeds because we, humans, deem them so.
A weed is any plant growing in an undesirable place, so what does that look like? Why might we deem them weeds, fit to be destroyed? Oftentimes there are practical reasons, if it competes with crops, or could pose a risk to people and animals, or if it's an invasive plant that threatens the local ecology. These are all good examples, but not the examples we’ll be exploring here. We will be looking at the backyards and gardens, to the eyes of the beholders. Sure, you wouldn’t want poison hemlock in your backyard, but why should clover get rooted out the same as hemlock? The thistle grows tall and its spines are sharp and pierce those who touch it, but then what of the rose? Must a thing have value, aesthetically, monetarily or otherwise, to have worth? Or is it simply worthy of being because it exists? Who are we to pass that judgement upon them, these things whose terrible crime was simply existing according to their nature?
What is the harm in letting them grow? We can curate and cultivate our gardens or grass lawns, but no matter what plants will grow as they please, “weed” or not. Lawns as we know them today trace their roots back to the wealthy aristocracy of 1700s Britain and France, a display of both wealth and control. For who else could afford the manpower needed to upkeep them, and who else had land enough to spare for a lawn? The harm to letting them grow lies within that, the loss of control and status that comes with a maintained lawn. But plants care little for the status of humans, and grow regardless of us.
So, what then of the harms of rooting them out? Most often we use chemicals to do so, chemicals which can’t discriminate weed from any other plant. Not only are these chemicals harmful to the plants around them, they’re harmful to the animals as well ourselves included. Whether directly or not, these chemicals find their ways into the ground and into the water cycle cascading to untold effects in all aspects of the ecosystem. On top of the increase of chemicals into the ecosystem, in removing “weeds”, we remove biodiversity. The more biodiverse an ecosystem the more it can flourish and grow healthy, the more it can resist blights and erosion. Everything is connected in one shape or form, and the more biodiverse the more everything benefits.
This article is not to convince you to never pull a weed, or to let nature grow wild of its own accord. It is not a condemnation of those who do maintain lawns or gardens. We are stewards of the world around us, we can shape and form it millions of ways millions of times over, but we are still part of the world. We are still connected to nature and life all around us, we’re not separate or above it. To be one with nature is to give into its often-chaotic ways, to relinquish control and be humbled. We are gifted with the consciousness over our actions, and their effects, and this article is simply made to be a voice for the living things often overlooked or looked down upon. A perspective for the things that simply live, and only wish to continue to live. It is simply a word for weeds.