To Weed or Not To Weed

April is the most confusing month.  Sunshine and showers make it difficult to know what clothes to wear.  Usually it has Easter in it, but not always because it is something to do with the moon or something - I don't know.  This year there are people going around asking me to make up my mind on this and that and I don't know what this is never mind what that is.  And even in my garden at this time of year I have things growing which I am unsure whether or not I want to be growing here, which throws up the eternal philosophical dilemma: to weed or not to weed.

For instance, like nature, I don't really like bare soil but do I want everything that is growing in this corner under the sycamore?

Is it getting over-crowded?
Can the soil sustain all these plants?
Is the mix of species too much?
Should I enjoy the glut because come the end of June when the canopy puts it in full shade this patch may look very dull indeed?
What should I do with those seedlings or plants I don't want?

Oddly, this spontaneous diversity in the tightly restricted environment of a container worries me less.  Instead, I am intrigued to see what my layer of garden compost may throw up.

Already I think I recognise Veronica, Poppies, Forget-me-nots, Herb Robert, and maybe some Bittercress.

Lovely, though some of those even I might call a weed.  So, should I weed?

In my back grass it is dead simple - I don't weed and so I get wonderful surprises such as this little Primula vulgaris which has seeded itself

On the other hand, while I love Bluebells and look forward to them blooming if I don't control them they could take over and smother out everything else . . .

. . . such as the Sweet Cicely trying to establish itself or . . .

. . .  the magical Snake's Head Fritillary which seems to like the damp grassland I have at this spot.

I am guessing there are places in the world where people consider species daffodils weeds (Narcissus lobularis in this instance) - though I doubt it really.

It is that last thought that makes me realise there are no weeds in my garden.  I use no herbicide but I have no weeds.

Only the extremist thugs like Bindweed, Japanese Knotweed and Ground Elder are unwelcome here.  Otherwise, my only dilemma is what to do with what arrives or comes up.




So instead of looking down on the plants that surround me and getting confused as to what to do, I can relax, lie down and look up to see the light shining through.

Having said all that, I still don't know what to think about this and especially not that.