Barbara Pleasant > Quotes

“They do a terrible job of adapting to natural ecosystems (like a mature forest or grassy prairie). If you were to abandon your garden tomorrow and let nature have its way with the place, most plants that fit into the category of garden weeds would be gone within a few years. Garden weeds depend on humans to provide them with an open place to grow, and they further benefit from our efforts to keep garden soil fertile and moist. Where humans cultivate, garden weeds grow.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“Among houseplants, the most efficient air purifiers are heavy transpirers, or species that cycle a lot of water from roots to leaves, such as palms, rubber plants, and corn plants (Dracaena). However, any green plant deserves some credit for making indoor air better for people to breathe.”
― Barbara Pleasant, The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual: Essential Gardening Know-how for Keeping (Not Killing!) More Than 160 Indoor Plants

“Two characteristics are shared by many weeds: They are pollinated by wind, and they have inconspicuous flowers. All of the grassy weeds are wind pollinated, as are docks, lambsquarters, pig-weeds, the plantains, ragweeds, and many other pesky plants.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“the most important thing to do is to prevent weeds from shedding their seeds. Use mulches, cover crops, smother crops, cutting and mowing, hoeing, and hand weeding to keep weeds from developingand shedding seeds into your garden soil.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“All gardeners can assume that every square inch of their garden soil contains weeds. Some of them may have been there for years, while others dropped or blew in only yesterday. The seeds that exist naturally in any soil are called the soil’s seed bank.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“Are they “plants whose virtues have yet to be discovered” (Walt Whitman), “guardians of the soil”(Joseph Cocannouer), or something equally nice, or are they sly thieves that steal the soil’s resources and gardeners’ precious time? Perhaps they can only really be defined from a practical point of view: Weeds are any plants that insist on growing where you don’t want them to grow.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“As long as the animals that produce the manure you put in your garden do not subsist on weeds, you can use the manure with confidence to improve your soil’s structure and fertility. Also keep in mind that it’s easier to control weeds than it is to grow healthy flowers and vegetables in weak, infertile soil.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“But you will never completely bankrupt your soil’s weed seed bank, for some seeds will always blow in or perhaps hitch a ride on the feet of a passing bird.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171

“As any hay-fever sufferer will notice (with a sure degree of horror), ragweed produces so much pollen that it often can be seen leaving the plants in clouds.”
― Barbara Pleasant, Controlling Garden Weeds: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-171