The Weeds Beckon

Trey Smith

Knowing that we won't be living in this house much longer, I had intended to let our front garden go to seed, so to speak. Though I have spent a good deal of time over these past 6 years trying to rid the yard of water-guzzling grasses and weeds and replacing these foreign species with native plants, I have little confidence that the next owners of this property will retain the yard's distinct look and feel.

Why do I say this? When we sold our home in Salem, one of the very first things the new owner undertook was to rip out all the planted native species to replace them with good ol' All-American grass. The yard today around that house looks no different than every other house on its block! Let's hear it for blanket conformity!!

Anyhow, I wasn't planning to do any work in the garden this spring...but the weeds beckon. Yes, all those native plants will probably be gone by next spring, but they are here now. So am I. Since we're both still here, I've decided to weed like I have done every year. And I will continue to do it until we move.

As I wrote a year or two ago, I am THANKFUL for the weeds. If they did not keep springing up, I probably wouldn't spend half as much time in my garden as I do. So, rather than get annoyed at these invaders, I commend them. They insure that I enjoy my garden as much as possible.

One other note. Our strawberry plants -- several hundred -- are flowering like crazy. This is a good indication that we will have a bumper crop this year. As Della remarked, I sure hope we aren't gone before the crop comes in! We love fresh strawberries. If we are gone, at least I hope our soon-to-be former neighbors -- human and otherwise -- don't allow all those plump berries to go to waste.