I think a plant is a weed if the gardener doesn't like the plant and doesn't want it in his / her garden. If the gardener doesn't like Tulips, Lupins or Delphiniums for example then the gardener can call them weeds! If the gardener likes Dandelions then the dandelion is not a weed.
I would argue that this is only the case if the plant is trying to grow in the gardener's garden. Oak trees aren't appropriate for my garden but I don't consider them weeds for example. If an acorn sprouts in my garden then it gets transplanted elsewhere so it's not a weed but an over enthusiatic volunteer.
There are many ornamental plants I dislike and don't grow but that doesn't make them weeds - begonia, impatiens, euphorbia, Dame Edna gladioli and so on.
Weeds I encourage in restricted places are nettles, wild apple mint, wild mallows, assorted yellow daisy like flowers, wild achillea, red clover and other such plants that attract pollinators and, as a side effect, swifts and swallows.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
In the lawn, clover and speedwell are fine with me. Daisies up to a point. Anything that comes up in the borders gets hoiked out, except for stray perennial seedlings which I like, like Linaria and Verbena bonariensis; which I wouldn't class as weeds.
It's all about a sensiblebalance surely. That's how I view it. It's like that garden on G'sW last week. Glad I don't live next door to him. If you want that level of 'untidy' you need to move to a less urban setting. Very unfair on neighbouring property owners.
'Much as I like 'fairies' floating around, they can be a real nuisance to many'. I apologise profusely @Joy*.....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've let loads of willow herb grow this year and been rewarded with lots of hawk moth caterpillars in the garden munching through it. In my defence the land around us is full of the stuff so some extra seeds wafting out of my garden isn't going to make anyone's weeding any tougher. Wind born weed seeds can travel for miles but if neighbours are growing weeds that have invasive roots it can be very annoying.
Cheeky b***er.... We have willowherb everywhere round here, so if there's hawkmoths around, they can find it 'out there' easily enough I'm not entirely sure we get them here though, although they had some on Beechgrove a while ago in a trap, so I daresay it's possible. They'd need good waterproofs if they want to colonise this side of the country though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Weeds I encourage in restricted places are nettles, wild apple mint, wild mallows, assorted yellow daisy like flowers, wild achillea, red clover and other such plants that attract pollinators and, as a side effect, swifts and swallows.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
That's how I view it. It's like that garden on G'sW last week. Glad I don't live next door to him. If you want that level of 'untidy' you need to move to a less urban setting. Very unfair on neighbouring property owners.
'Much as I like 'fairies' floating around, they can be a real nuisance to many'.
I apologise profusely @Joy*.....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
We have willowherb everywhere round here, so if there's hawkmoths around, they can find it 'out there' easily enough
I'm not entirely sure we get them here though, although they had some on Beechgrove a while ago in a trap, so I daresay it's possible. They'd need good waterproofs if they want to colonise this side of the country though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...