The Argument for Dandelions

Whoever it was that came up with what qualifies as a weed should explain themselves.

When my husband and I bought our house 3+ years ago, the idea of a nearly-double city lot was appealing. 1. We paid but a song for it (a good song, mind you. The equivalent of "Bohemian Rhapsody", let's say), 2. Our house is situated basically in the middle of the lot, so our neighbors don't seem so close, and 3. Lots of yard to play with and landscape and hang out in.

The first 2 points have paid off. Number 3? Well, if we were retired or I was a stay-at-home dog-mom or we made enough dough to pay someone to be our gardener, then this blog wouldn't exist, frankly.

The house itself didn't need too much work, just some cosmetic changes to suit our personal tastes. What really needed help was the yard. A lot of grass, random plants, and berries. Oh my good lord, the berries. I love berries as much as the next person, but hello. They are like weeds that jump across borders and fences (feel free to insert some sort of "joke" about immigrants here.) And dandelions? When you pull them out or pop their little heads off, that is not the end of dandelions. I thought if we pulled a bunch of them out, and left them out as a warning for other dandelions, they would back off. It only makes them stronger. They unite and conquer. And we can't use an herbicide for them because of our pets, not to mention the impact of the environment.

So my question is: who decided that dandelions are weeds? I read recently that sometimes a weed is just a misplaced flower or plant. I can think of lots of things that are classified as plants that are even more prolific (in a bad way) than dandelions. Ivy? Lemon balm? Japanese honeysuckle? Don't plant any of these in the ground unless you want to be taken over by a plant, a la Little Shop of Horrors.

Frankly, I'm just too lazy to try and keep up with getting rid of weeds completely. Our yard will never look like a carefully manicured park. But as long as I can sit on the patio and enjoy an adult beverage and feel good about the work we've done, I'm okay with that.