why do lots of weeds grow so well in my garden when other plants struggle?

Answer 1

I have the same problem.

Answer 2

Generally a weed is any plant that doesn't need help to pollinate, reproduce, root itself or any specific care or attention. They produce a humungus amount of seeds in order to ensure survival of their species and will take root where there is air water and nutrient - no matter how minimal.
This is why there are such a proliferation of them, and their varieties.
In years past, many of them were considered very useful for medicinal and other health assisting properties - you pay a lot for the care and attention someone has spent cultivating them, picking them and then crushing, infusing, rubbing and all the other methods used to make preparations, tablets, tinctures, linctus, creams, oils - that are bought in health shops!!!
You might want to consider reading up on them.
For instance, there is a plant (weed) that has a bushy growth with white daisy-like flowers - Feverfew - brilliant for treating migraines and period pains. Another plant known as Ladies Mantle (has largish green leaves and yellow green flowers growing on a spike) - combined with vaseline makes a wonderful healing cream for cut injuries. Digitalis, the medication for heart treatment, is produced from foxglove. Weeds as we call them don't all look as wonderful as cultivated flowers, nor smell as nice as them a lot of the time, but they are often far more useful much of the time. So you see they really are just lovely plants in the wrong place!

Answer 3

Oh I am so with you with this!

Every morning, as a I back my car out, I see those damned weeds in the front garden. I swear it only takes them half an hour to grow three inches.

Someone once said 'A weed is only a plant out of place', but that really doesn't stop my weed peevishness.

Answer 4

Weeds have several advantages over cultivated plants;
They are specific to a given area or soil type,
they may be established in an area as a colony
they have completely random pollination / breeding and are therefore generaly hardier than highly interbred 'ornamentals'
It's a bit like dogs, where mongels are healthier and longer lived
than most pedigrees.

Answer 5

If you Id the type of weeds that grow it will give you a indication of the soil conditions that exist in your garden enabling you to choose plants that are more suited to your garden.

Answer 6

Not only are weeds adapted to your soil and weather conditions, they often grow faster, crowding your other plants and robbing them of light, moisture and soil. That's why weeding has to be done as soon as you even see them - don't give them a chance to get too big and stunt the growth of your other plants, and definitely don't give them a chance to reproduce.

Answer 7

because weeds are one of natures true survivors and probably will still be here when we are not. They need little water, they don't get bothered by insects and they hard to get rid of...we should learn to appreciate them more and learn! There are some nice weeds out there, try and find some that you like and plant them!

Answer 8

Chances are, the weeds are native plants.

Those species have probably been growing in your area for a very long time and are well adapted to the environment.

The plants we cultivate may not be well suited to our areas.

Answer 9

The short answer is--natural selection. Weeds are what gardeners refer to as "volunteers." Volunteers are plants that grow and reproduce without human intervention. We don't plant them or sow their seeds (at least, not on purpose) yet they grow and thrive anyway. In the natural world, survival of the fittest is the rule, for plants as well as animals. When plant gets eaten, dies of infection, dies because it doesn't get enough water (or gets too much water), dies because it doesn't like the soil in which it is growing--it doesn't pass its genes on to the next generation. Only the best combinations of genes to ensure survival are found in the next generation in wild plants.

The problem is that mankind began to interfere with Mother Nature. We began to cultivate plants ourselves--and instead of selecting for hardiness, we selected for other things. We selected for biggest, juiciest, most tasty fruit, the prettiest fall leaf color, the biggest, longest lasting blooms, the fastest growth--among other things. As the plants got further and further from their wild relatives, they got less hardy and harder to grow.

Weeds are actually rather interesting. We can't even seem to agree on the definition of a weed. Some people define a weed as a plant that is undesirable. The problem with this definition is that what is undesirable to some is desirable to others. In the US, most people would define dandelions as a weed. We spend thousands on chemical preparations to eradicate it from our lawns. In England, dandelions are grown as a crop--where they are used in salads, in herbal preparations, in making dandelion beer and dandelion wine--among many other things.

Other people define a weed as a plant that has no use. The problem with this definition is that we discover new uses for plants all the time. For example, the Pacific yew--which people called a weed tree because it wasn't good lumber--used to be cut down and burned by most foresters. Then scientists discovered the Pacific yew contained Taxol--used in medicines for curing and controlling breast cancer--and suddenly the Pacific yew was no longer a weed, but a very valuable tree, worthy of cultivation.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines a weed as "a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially : one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants." To farmers and the agricultural industry, a weed is any plant that competes with the crop plants or harms the harvested product. To the landscape gardener, a weed is any plant that is growing "out of place." My next door neighbor calls any plant which grows abundantly, without any trouble (even in flower beds), a weed--she refers to Spanish blue-bells, Wallflowers, California poppies, and lupine as weeds--and will pull them up when she sees them. I, on the other hand, refer to them as flowers which naturalize easily and welcome them in my garden.

Answer 10

Some weeds are plants that flower. These are put into a wild flower garden.

And here you are with a wild flower garden. I hope all your weeds bloom!

Answer 11

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