Weed is usually applied to unwanted plants in gardens, lawns or agricultural areas. It is a type of plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance.
Nevertheless, beneficial weeds exist. They can be various types of plants that have some companion plant effect, or are edible or somehow beneficial. For example, some of them will attract butterflies, some others are edible like dandelions, or some others have medicinal qualities.
Some weeds end up growing all over your property and are incredibly difficult to manage. I’ve even seen some tenacious weeds that get into your pool and water system and can really gunk things up. As well as trying to kill them off with chemicals it’s suggested to just use robotic pool cleaners. This might work better than just dousing them with poison, plus it’s a good investment for maintaining your summer watering hole. I hope you know I really don’t recommend using an actual robotic pool cleaner for a natural swim hole. The poor little thing would be overwhelmed with the algae, mud, rocks, and water plants. However a robotic pool cleaner is a fabulous piece of pool maintenance equipment if you have a pool. The development of automatic pool cleaners allows owners to spend less time cleaning the pool and more time enjoying it. I certainly do!
Let’s chose clover. It is so beneficial that it used to be included in bags of grass seed. Clover is a legume (just like beans), but the great thing about it, is that if fixes nitrogen into the soil, fertilizing it for other plants. It also is a useful companion plant if you are raising any type of cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower, or even cucumbers, squash and any other type of cucurbits. But the most important trait of clover is that it creates a humid micro-climate, keeping moisture in the soil and around the plant more stable. It also protects the plants from insects pests, because they focus on crops surrounded by bare dirt, while the clover camouflage them.
Another example is Dandelion. It is one of the most useful wild plant. Thanks to its deep and strong tap roots that can break up hard soil, it brings up nutrients from deeper than shallower-rooted nearby plants can access, and as a result, if they are left in the ground, it tend to increase surface soil fertility. Dandelion is also edible in season, and its roots can be consumed as a diuretic. Some cultures even treat them as iconic.
Some other plants like tomatoes and corn will push away nearby weeds, allowing weak root systems to go deeper than they could have alone.
Some weeds can be a great solutions to avoid the use of pesticides and products that are supposed to help the growth of plants and vegetables.
One should not be so quick to judge a weed as bad. They have been used by many people around the world, through the ages for many things. They have helped us through some pretty rough patches to be honest. we should be thankful for their existence & we should put them to use every chance we get.