Hot take: wildflower gardens look better with some 'weeds' left in

I used to pull every dandelion and clover from my patch like they were criminals. Then I visited my sister's place in Vermont last spring. Her whole yard is goldenrod and milkweed and it was crawling with monarchs and bees. Her neighbor's lawn was perfect green carpet. Guess which one had more life in it. Now I let some of the 'messy' stuff grow and it feels more real. But I get it. Some people want order. How do you draw the line between a garden and a weed patch?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_williams1mo ago

I marked out a little patch in the back corner and just let it go completely wild, see what shows up. First year it was mostly clover and random grasses, but now I've got black-eyed Susans and some kind of purple aster that just appeared on its own. The trick for me was keeping a clear border around the rest of the garden so it doesn't look like I'm just neglecting everything. Keeps the wife happy too.

anna4911mo ago

oh man that border trick is genius actually. i tried doing the same thing a few years back but i just let the whole back fence area go and my neighbors definitely gave me the side eye until the milkweed and goldenrod started looking intentional. once you add a clear edge like stones or even just a mowed line it totally changes how people see it. that purple aster you're talking about probably showed up from bird droppings or wind, nature does all the hard work for you if you just let it. i found that after a couple seasons the soil gets better too since you're not tilling or messing with it. the bees and butterflies in my little patch started showing up way more than in my regular garden beds lol.

lewis.mila1mo ago

Haha yesss the soil part is so real. Just leaving it alone does half the work for you.