Most people see weeds or wild plants as a nuisance, yet they have so many qualities we usually forget to acknowledge.
They are sometimes also called Natural or Wild Flora, aka adventitious herbs, which shows that they might take advantage of an area in the garden we neglected to cultivate and they might become competitors particularly I certain crops like onions, garlic and carrots, or they might become companions as in the case of chickweed in potatoes, etc.
They tend to come into areas of the garden or natural environment in great proliferation to heal the soil or to reveal to us our natural healing remedy growing in front of our noses.
In the soil they appear particularly when we have in one way damaged the soil by working it too wet, too dry, in general in an insensitive way to its natural make-up of texture, structure and life.
Below, I am giving you a list of a compilation of names in relationship to soil conditions, which might help you to make more informed decisions in the future how to treat the soil. These have been gathered from studies we can engage in called ‘plant sociology’ and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s research about the weeds and what they can tell us.
Once we recognize what has gone wrong with our soils, we can learn how to heal the soil with cultural means and wisdom.
While we embark on that inner journey we can make the biodynamic weed peppers, which were researched by Maria Thun as pointed out before to solve some of the one-sided problems with our soils temporarily.
Next time more about that.
For now it suffices to point out the qualities the natural flora shows us about our soils:
Heavy soils: Dandelion, Wild Mustard, Plantain, Chamomile, Buttercups, Potentilla, Delphinium, Adonis
Compaction and puddling on surface of soil: Plantain, Chamomile, Buttercups, Daisies, Potentilla, Pennycress, Black Mustard, Nasturtium, Viola, Bracken
Compaction between topsoil and subsoil: Thistle, Bindweed, Horsetail, Hogweed, Dock
Waterlogged: Bindweed, Horsetail, Thistle, Dock, Spurges, Polygonums, Mints, Queck or Couch Grass, Rushes, Tussilago, Symphetum (Comphrey), Potentilla
Sandy soils: Purslane, Heather, Bracken, Pine, Chrysamthemums
Acid soils: Pine, Algae, Moss, Queck or Couch grass, Buttercups, Daisies , Polygonums, Sanguisorbia, Potentilla, Stachys, Dock
Alkaline soils: Poppy, Brassica sinapsis (Wild Mustard), Sanguisorba (Salad Burnett), Pennycress
Humus rich soils: Nettle, Dead Nettle, Lamb’s Quarters, Chickweed, Sow Thistle, Groundsel, Black Nightshade, Fat Hen, Fumaria (Sun Spurge), Galinsoga (Galant Soldier), Cleaver, Scarlet Pimpernel, Shepherd’s Purse
Nitrogen rich soils: grass lawn without clovers, Black Nightshade, Fat Hen, Nettle, Galinsoga (Galant Soldier)
Well aerated and moist soils: Fumaria (Sun Spurge), Veronica off. (Speedwell), Forget-me-not, Dead Nettle, Lamium (Dead Nettle)
Overworked/Dusty: Deadly & Black Nightshade, Galinsoga (Galant Soldier)
Dry soils: Artemisia (Wormwood), Sedums (Succulents), Agricultural Chicory, Field Sage
How long do certain weed seeds persist in our soils?
Wild flora Years
Dock 70
Lamb’s Quarters 40
Shepherds Purse 16-35
Galinsoga 11
Chamomile 11
Groundsel 3
Wild Oats 3
What is the weed load per m2
Average 10 k
Germany 3 k – 40 k
USA 900 – 43 k
UK 8k – 73 k
I wish you an adventurous journey in the discovery of what species of natural flora you find in your garden, find out what they indicate, how they support certain qualities in the soils and how they support the natural fauna.
I will add photos of natural plants which are indicators of a rich garden soil.
Next time we’ll address questions of how to engage soil cultivation and green manuring
With happy thoughts and feeling for all our gardens
Hans-Günther
