Weeds can be a curse or a blessing

Plants, good. Weeds, bad. Enough said. The dynamics of plants and their interaction on the landscape is a fine line between amazing and tiresome.

But what is complicated is how to assess what a weed is. If we think of weeds in the backyard, by the tool shed, or even out in the garden, they are pretty easy to pick out; sometimes they are white clover, plantains, or dandelions. If it isn’t lawn grass or a vegetable it is ‘deplorable’ with no benefi t, right? Not quite.

White clover provides nitrogen to feed the grass and be a pollinator source. Plantains have medicinal properties, specifically the immediate relief and treatment of bug stings and bites. Next time if your grandson gets stung by a hornet grab some plantain leaves and squeeze the juice out onto the sting, and the pain will stop immediately.

Dandelions can be nasty looking on a lawn, but did you know that they are a major source of calcium, which is an important micronutrient for healthy soil structure? Besides a benefit to your lawn, it benefits others.

They are one of the earliest flowering plants in the spring and become a major source for pollinators, like honey bees, to get nectar/energy after a long winter rest. Not to mention it is also targeted by kids when they want to pick flowers for grandma.

Some weeds are down-right sinister however, like waterhemp, nutshedge, giant ragweed, just to name a few. Noxious weeds, like waterhemp, are hyper aggressive and outcompete plants for nutrients and sunlight, and can even produce an excretion through their roots that either attracts pests and bad bacteria, or even be toxic for other plants. At that point a farmer uses chemicals, rotations of forage with multiple cuttings, or cover crops to put them under control.

Even some of the plants we have known to enjoy can become a weed themselves. For example, corn is king, especially in our area when it comes to silage. But yet it becomes a nuisance when it voluntarily grows the next season amongst soybeans, making harvest difficult.

Italian ryegrass has recently become a slight pest with the mild winters with some of them being able to survive the winter and come through in the spring. They can be a potential logistical nightmare for the next rotation of corn or small grains, even though it is a major player for dairy forage and cover cropping.

Yet not every instance when ‘weeds’ come up in the main crops does it present an issue, but instead can provide a benefit.

I see this all the time with brassicas and clovers, especially in corn. They help loosen soil around the corn, shade out other weeds, and help trap more moisture in the soil with its large leaves. Putting a nurse crop over the top of your main crop is a common, time-tested approach. For example, peas and oats with new seeding alfalfa, to encourage healthy growth. Weird, right?

“Weeds” or plants, but not every plant is a weed. It comes down to management and practicality to determine if they truly will be a nuisance or a benefit. Every plant tells a story, and can help you determine what can be done to solve the issue.

For example, nutshedge grows in wet compacted ground, and curly dock can indicate underlying compaction and acidic soil (lower pH). The weeds are a pain in the butt for a farmer, but at least this gives them a hint at what management could be done to the field to prevent them from coming back.

There is a great book by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer called Weeds and What They Tell Us. It is a very quick read with awesome information. You should check it out.

So next time you are at your food plot, out in your yard or garden, or walking your fields, don’t turn your nose up at some weeds. Some of those little-guys could help you out, or at least tell you more of the story of what is going on with the field. Unless there are a lot of weeds, then you should probably take care of them.

THE SOIL

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