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Is that a weed? This question, asked by anyone who has ever gardened or mowed a lawn, does not have an easy answer. After all, a weed, as suburban mother and professional weed scientist Nancy Gift reminds readers, is simply a plant out of place. In A Weed by Any Other Name, Gift offers a personal, unapologetic defense of clovers, dandelions, plantains, and more, chronicling her experience with these "enemy" plants season by season.
Rather than falling prey to pressures to achieve the perfect lawn and garden, Gift elucidates the many reasons to embrace an unconventional, weedy yard. She celebrates the spots of wildness that crop up in various corners of suburbia, redeeming many a plant's reputation by expounding on its positive qualities. She includes recipes for dandelion wine and garlic mustard pesto as well as sketches that show the natural beauty of flowers such as the morning glory, classified by the USDA as an invasive and noxious weed.
Although she is an advocate of weeds, Gift admits that some plants do require eradication-she happily digs out multiflora rose and resorts to chemical warfare on poison ivy. But she also demonstrates that weeds often carry a message for us about the land and our treatment of it, if we are willing to listen.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Andrew Chugg
reviewed A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant on October 21, 2009
A Weed by Any Other Name
This wasn't really worth the effort.
The book is divided into four sections representing the different seasons, with each chapter discussing a weed that is prominent during the corresponding time of year.
Unfortunately, this was less about the weeds themselves and more about a) the author's opinion of weeds, b) musings about what her opinion about weeds says about herself and others, c) pesticide manufacturers and the inner turmoil she has endured for caving into the easy approach to poison ivy control* (aka Roundup), and d) the scientific accuracy of plant flowering and pollination as portrayed in the Seinfeld vehicle Bees. (Ok, that last one is kind of a throw-away, but it was at about that point that I realized this was a lost cause.)
Aside from the cover page for each season the book is devoid of any pictures or drawings, which would have been helpful in identifying which of the myriad plants in my yard she was talking about. Other than a recipe for dandelion wine and something she refers to as camp pesto, there is little information regarding the usefulness of any of the plants discussed. While there are some interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout, you really have to...dare I say it...weed them out (ba-doom, ching!)I gave up when I hit Fall and just skimmed the remaining chapters.
*To be clear, I have a yard full of weeds, I'm generally opposed to the use of the fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides necessary for the archetypal suburban lawn, and I'll be happy if I can get moss, clover and some other attractive (to me, at least) low-maintenance low-growing *weeds* to take over. BUT, when it comes to poison ivy my position is: spray the fucker and be done with it. I tried the pull-and-dispose method one season and while it resulted in a slightly thinner crop the following year mostly what I got for my efforts was a rash. I've got too many other home and yard maintenance challenges on the list for me to spend multiple seasons donning full hazmat gear in an attempt to eradicate this particular scourge.
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Add A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant, Is that a weed? This question, asked by anyone who has ever gardened or mowed a lawn, does not have an easy answer. After all, a weed, as suburban mother and professional weed scientist Nancy Gift reminds readers, is simply a plant out of place. In A W, A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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Add A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant, Is that a weed? This question, asked by anyone who has ever gardened or mowed a lawn, does not have an easy answer. After all, a weed, as suburban mother and professional weed scientist Nancy Gift reminds readers, is simply a plant out of place. In A W, A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant to your collection on WonderClub |
