Like most gardeners, I’m in a constant battle against weeds. Dandelions pepper my lawn, bindweed wraps itself around my plants and I’m resigned to living with horsetail. So, I was intrigued by the title of Jack Wallington’s book. How can anyone be enthusiastic yet alone Wild About Weeds?
I was sent a copy of this book in return for a review.
Of course, as we all know, a weed is merely a plant in the wrong place but deciding what falls into that category is a personal choice. As the book says: “Even if we like the look of a plant, if it persists and spreads easily to the point it’s difficult to control, we would probably get frustrated with it and it becomes a weed.” Soapwort (Soponaria officinalis) definitely fits the bill in my garden – you can read about it here.
Indeed, it’s usually in our gardens that these thuggish plants have it easier, as out in the natural world they have to fight for space with other equally determined plants.
“In gardens, we remove this competition, creating conditions that are perfect for weeds: bare soil and breathing space.”
However, the book argues that, used with care, weeds, or “rebel plants”, can make a valuable contribution to garden design and, where they are rampant, living with them may be the best option. After all, they grow where they are happy, relieving us of the need to feed, water and generally mollycoddle them.
Naturally, there are some weeds that no one should invite into their gardens and the book lists them – including, I’m pleased to say, my enemy, Equisetum arvense (horsetail). Pictures and advice on how to get rid of them – almost impossible in the case of horsetail – make this a handy reference section. Further on, there’s more detailed advice on weed suppression and removal.
Others, which should be classed as weeds because of their love of spreading, are tolerated, including foxgloves and Erigeron karvinskianus.
“Giving them labels like ‘wildflower’ and ‘self-sower’, somehow we gloss over the fact that these plants behave like any other weed.”
If you decide to embrace your weeds, there’s advice on how to manage them from saving seed and moving plants to growing conditions and creating a plant community.
The bulk of Wild About Weeds is devoted to ideas for weeds for every situation be it a sunny border, meadow or container.
Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) “rivals many garden plants for sheer, summer wow factor”. Lesser celandine (Fricaria verna) is suggested as ground cover to “brighten any tricky corner of a garden” and even giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is an option for rich, damp soils although the book acknowledges care is needed.
Each plant entry has botanical information, such as plant family and eventual size, and suggestions for how to use it – and control it, if necessary.
Woven through this information are interviews with gardeners and designers who use weeds.
The book tells us that: “A garden without weeds is a soulless, lifeless thing.” Given the state of some parts of my garden, it’s a mantra I shall cling to.
Wild About Weeds, Garden Design with Rebel Plants, by Jack Wallington, is published by Laurence King Publishing, priced £19.99. Buy now for £13.99 on Amazon. (If you buy through this Amazon link, I get a small fee. The price you pay is not affected.)
Header photo: common poppy on Sarah Price’s 2018 Chelsea Flower Show garden. Photo by Jim Powell.
You can read more of my gardening and garden-related book reviews here.
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