Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Weed

Weedkillers stand to eradicate one of nature's most beautiful creations.

At my home, our lawn is unattended. Anything is free to grow as it sees fit. What was ten years ago once a quite fertile field of perfect green, is now a mottled patchwork of happenstance greenery. I see moss, I see ferns, I see tulips, I see weeds. Ah, I see grass as well. If I were to partake of proper lawncare, I might be able to perfect my imperfect scenery.

In our neighborhood, when we first moved in there were many older couples around. Now most of them have moved on. I recall one of them had a truly perfect garden. When we would marvel at her impeccably maintained fields of green, she would often say to us in the kindest voice, "Oh, your lawn is beautifully green too. " She meant that at a distance, it wasn't difficult to appreciate our decaying lawn because on the average, it was as green as hers. The difference of course was that her green was a pure green; ours was a more varied green.

Today I am glad that we have our share of weeds. I really love dandelions even though I am old enough to know that one puff ... and all the seeds are released to grow even more weeds. The temptation is simply too great to not want to puff at one of these things. Nature's done a smashing job at creating such an addictive visual treat. Weed.

Jeff Gates writes, "We have your classic 'au natural' lawn. We don't get a lot of sunlight because of the trees and this year we've got a bumper crop of dandelions, which my girls love to blow (hence the bumper crop). The definition I've always heard for the word "weed" is: an unwanted plant. This leaves open the definition to an individual's personal tastes." Taste is certainly a personal matter. Speaking of taste, dandelions taste pretty good in salads.

Posted by maeda at May 17, 2005 07:31 PM