Look who's still alive! Lots of LIFE happening lately, and also lots of SUMMER, so, not much going on in the yard/gardens. A quick recap of the last couple of months goes:
- learned to tune up/repair my lawnmower via YouTube videos
- Something (not one of my dogs) dug up my Sweet Autumn Clematis vine and the whole thing died
- Discovered that the weed in the back yard that I knew was bothering my dogs' skin is none other than Ragweed. *HORROR MOVIE MUSIC PLAYS IN BACKGROUND*
- The grass, weeds, and intentional plants that I tend are doing really well this year, since we've had a decent amount of consistent rainfall this year, and my "lawns" are doing great. The front is...alive! The back is 6" high at all times, fluffy, soft, and 90% weeds. I don't care, as long as it's green. Except for the ragweed.
So the other day while mowing (with the weed eater, since although my lawnmower is now functional, it's out of gas, derp), I came across a weed I have never seen before in my ten years of living in this house, and my thirty-three years of living in Austin. I took to the internet today to try and identify it, and ended up drawing you a picture:
1. Ground Ivy (Glechoma)
Low, creeping, prolific, and covered in small whorled burrs that blanket your dog like little angry traps that spring when you snuggle him later. I've found them to be easily controlled by scalping the crap out of them with the weedeater on a regular basis. (As per this whole post: your mileage may vary).
...the plant, not the dogs. Weed eaters don't control dogs at all.
2. Dichondra
Teensy and beautiful, to my eye. They spring up and proliferate in shady areas with moist soil, and I let them do that all they want, because they fill in areas where I can never grow anything else. Plus they're cute as hell.
3. Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus)
The first time I saw this I thought it was some new horrible form of Ground Ivy. I don't have much; the healthier and more diverse my lawn is, the less I see Creeping Buttercup. It's itchy.
4. Wood Sorrel (Oxalis)
NOT CLOVER. Clover is
this. There are many species of Oxalis, but this one is mine. This shit is the reason the HOA hates me. It's ubiquitous, fast-growing, covered in @$!%&!~@! stickers, and too low to hit with the lawnmower. Regular scalping with the weed eater keeps it in check, but the second the grass withers in extreme heat this stuff takes off like crazy. WE HATES IT, PRECIOUS.
5. Henbit (Lamium)
Henbit is a type of Dead Nettle - "dead" indicating that it has no noxious chemical sting like Stinging Nettle or Bull Nettle. It's safe to touch. And I think it's pretty, when it's not stringy and overgrown. This is one of the weeds I let grow in shady areas if it wants to, though it usually doesn't, for long.
6. Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium)
Big, strong, and easy to pull up when it's about a foot high. Earlier than that and the stem just snaps at the ground. Later than that and you need farm equipment to get it up. Fortunately it doesn't seem to spread much, at least not in my yard. It's also got big, strong roots that are perfect for breaking up hard, dry soil - which is why you tend to see it more in barren areas. It's got a job to do.
7. Western Ragweed (Ambrosia)
Holy shitsnacks, y'all. I first became aware that my dogs seemed to be allergic to this stuff last year, when I had maybe one or two of them in the yard. I pulled them up. This year, I got dozens, so I mowed them over - regular mowing will disrupt and eventually wear out and kill 99% of the weeds I've encountered. Not this crap. It replicates exponentially the more I cut it down, and now I have a fucking CARPET of this shit. More extreme measure to be taken over the coming weekend. Daisy's reacting to it (and the fleas, which have gone INSANE this year) so badly I'm afraid the Animal Services people are going to confiscate her any day now, the poor love. :'(
8. Japanese Stiltgrass, or Annual Jewgrass (Microstegium)
I was highly dismayed to discover that this was a particularly noxious invasive plant, high on watch lists around my area. I love this stuff! I have it all over the east side of my property where nothing else will grow, and it's beginning to take over my backyard, too. And I was GLAD it was, because it's SO pretty and green and soft. I learned today that it'll get up to 3' high if I let it - I've always mown it into a soft, plush carpet, and it stays that way. I want to keep it, but...?
9. ?????
SO WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING???
Anybody?
It was about a foot and a half high at time of death (by weed eater). Each little star-shaped cluster of leaves had a little cluster of tiny, tiny yellow flowers in the center. There was a pale area near the center of each cluster, kinda like in the picture. It was really pretty, and also really scary-looking, because, is it a Magical Winning Lottery Ticket Bush, or is it SATAN???
[Edit: it's wild Amaranth!]
And Now A Word From My Lawn's Sponsor
(that would be me)...
By and large, I let weeds be weeds. As long as they're not hurting anybody, not toxic to my dogs, and not taking over and growing out of control. Like I said, regular mowing keeps the ones I don't want to have around down, and it does actually proliferate things I do want more of - like the Japanese Stiltgrass (mournful sigh) and the variety of small, native grass-like things that are together finally replacing my nasty-ass Bermuda Grass (planted by the builders in 2004, ugly as hell, terrible at this climate, and yet
another plant my dogs and I are allergic to).
The main reason I let most of them alone is that MONOCULTURE IS UNHEALTHY. A typical "ideal" suburban lawn, a smooth, green, swath of a single type of grass, is a monoculture. Maintained year by year lawns deplete the soil beneath them of all the nutrients they need to survive, leaving behind the rest to build up and slowly deaden the soil underneath, requiring massive amounts of chemical intervention to keep them going (hint: this is why they rotate crops). For healthy soil, and healthy plants and grasses, you need a
diverse range of plants in any garden scape, be it a lawn or a garden bed. I'd much rather have a sea of Whatever Will Grow in which every plant is healthy, green, and plush. A diverse lawn, with its varying water and nutrient needs and its varying root depth, promotes healthy, nutrient-rich, well-aerated soil chock full of beneficial bacteria and insects. It also holds moisture better, retains soil and prevents erosion, and breakdown of used plant material feeds neighboring plants and trees.
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