Noxious Weeds

Yesterday I wrote about my experience so far with velvetleaf.  This weed is classified as being noxious in British Columbia and several US states.  To be classified as a noxious weed the plant has to cause harm to human via toxicity or cause an agricultural loss however every municipality has their own definition of noxious weeds.  In some localities a weed (eg. water hyacinth) can be classified noxious because it blocks water intakes.  Here dandelions (edible), wild mustard (edible) and milk thistle (medicinal, attracts Monarch butterflies) are considered noxious so technically they are to be destroyed.  There doesn't seem to be any reasoning as to why the last mentioned are deemed noxious other than they are somewhat invasive.  The main reason seems to be that these particular weeds interfer with the pristine green carpets of chemically dependent lawns some municipalities are striving for.  With the onset of the Ontario lawn pesticide ban that has left some residents scrambling.  At the same time others are questioning the classification of some noxious weeds especially those that are edible or provide a companion benefit in the garden.  I honestly think people are going to start seeing dandelions in a whole different light now. 

If you are dealing with a noxious weed on your property the best course of action is to prevent it from spreading.  That means you can use all the benefits of the weed up to the point just before it goes to seed.  At that point if you want the seed bag the seed pod so seeds go into the bag and not into the wild or manually remove the weed to prevent it from going to seed.  If your municipality declares a weed noxious then manually remove it via pulling before it goes to seed but you can keep a couple for research purposes providing you don't allow the seed to get out into the wild.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010