Super Eco

Photo credit: jude on flickr

In organically managed gardening and farming systems, weed control does not mean weed eradication. 

A weed is often defined as a plant out of place, a plant whose benefits we are not aware of. Granted, there are many weeds which are downright noxious and harmfully invasive to delicate Ecosystems, that stated, here are some ways that that beneficial weeds and native plant species work for you in the garden habitat and lawn:

1. The Dandelion (lion's tooth), a member of the Sunflower/Aster family and perhaps the most ubiquitously useful garden/lawn weed, packs a powerhouse of benefits. Besides being good in salads and herbal remedies, their deep tap roots break up soil and unlock the nutrients in it for more shallow rooted plants. They also provide nutrition for wildlife and grazing animals and sweet nectar for insects. The Dandelion is to me, is perhaps the most noble of weeds and I always enjoy seeing their smiling faces popping up in my yard. Dandelion seed heads are also extremely useful for making wishes!
2. Clover is another powerhouse weed which does not survive in a pesticide poisoned lawn. In the days before chemical weed killers, Clover seeds were regularly mixed into lawn grass seed mixes. Seeding your lawn with clover helps it to maintain and self sustain, with mulch mowing, healthy levels of nitrogen and greatly lessen the need for liming and fertilization. Drought resistant clover, keeps your lawn green when most grasses go dormant in hot summer months. Not to mention the joy you will experience upon finding a lucky four-leaf variety!
3. Beneficial weeds provide food and shelter for the natural enemies of pest insects, as well as providing organic crop pests with an alternate source of food. 
4. Weeds can serve to aerate, cover and conserve bare soil, saving it from erosion due to the effects of wind and rain.
5. Beneficial weed cover can provide, home and hearth, shelter and food for birds especially and other small wildlife.
6. Let's not forget to mention how weeds compete with cultivated flowers for beauty and fragrance. A weed like Dame's Rocket for instance, is hard to beat on either count. Joe Pye Weed would be hard to match for sheer size and drama; and the tender, diminutive, romantic Violet which has inspired so much poetry and prose would be hard for any cultivated flower's charms to match.
7. The types of weeds flourishing in our gardens, are informational markers, which tell us about overall soil condition. Harbingers of soil change and vegetation succession, they are literally the first "soil conservationists".

Some interesting reading on the subject: A Weed By Any Other Name, Weeds And What They Tell, A Global Compendium Of Weeds.

Happy Gardening, I'll see you over the Hedgerow!