Really into the weeds
Anybody with a good word to say about weeds? Tony Henderson finds their eloquent friend.
In what is said to be a nation of gardeners, weeds may not win any prizes with many a veg or flowers fan.
Adverts exhort growers to zap weeds with herbicide and pesticide brands and councils are not shy with spraying,.
But weeds are nothing if not tenacious and across centuries and countries, have demonstrated their ability to survive.
They are survivors and that is quite hopeful.
Anna Chapman Parker on weeds
Artist and author Anna Chapman Parker has written a book based on a year of observations and drawings of weeds in pavements cracks, open patches of ground, margins, and nooks and crannies around her home town of Berwick.
She will be discussing her illustrated book Understorey: A Year Among Weeds with artist and organic gardener Anna Corbett in an event on Sunday (March 2) hosted by the Northumberland climate change awareness charity What a Wonderful World as part of the Alnwick Story Fest weekend (Feb 28-Mar 2).
The negative attitude to weeds includes the perception that they are an untidy, persistent and intruding irritant without the pleasing display of cultivated garden flowers. To be called a weed in the school playground was an unwanted label,
On the positive side is the view that a weed is simply a plant in the wrong place
Anna Chapman Parker says: “What is a weed? Weeds don’t exist as any kind of botanical group. A weed is much more of an opinion.”
An example of the divide - drive along the Coast Road to Newcastle at a certain time of the year and the verges are a sold ribbon of blooming yellow dandelions.
Some will welcome the colour, the bonanza for under-threat pollinators like bees, and that the plants bring a touch of wildness to urban areas. Others will see only a lack of maintenance.
“Weeds are plants that come up without cultivation and which multiply abundantly,” says Anna.
“Their proliferation is explained by another quality – their ability to grow in many different habitats. A weed is a plant that is wild, prolific and adaptable.”
The diversity of weeds is certainly impressive. Anna lists 97 different varieties.
The more familiar examples include campion, cleavers, chickweed, cow parsley, dandelion, dock. herb Robert, nettle, groundsel, pineapple weed, thistle, plantain, ragwort, shepherd’s purse, and willow herb.
They have also been persistently around for a long time. Anna began to notice how weeds made appearances in medieval and later paintings and artworks, connecting different times in history and countries.
Observing which weeds appear where and when while on daily walks to the shops, commuting or taking children to school can also enliven humdrum routine.
“I have always been interested in the everyday, rather than the spectacular, “ says Anna.
“I started making a lot of drawings when I was out and about, taking s sketchbook with me. I became more and more interested in weeds and through drawing I got to know them better.”
They are plants that are generally taken for granted, ignored, or obliterated.
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While Anna agrees that there are situations where weeds need to be controlled, she says: “I discuss pavement plants and the use of pesticides, which is just completely unnecessary in our towns and cities, and has already been banned in several countries. Where weeds do need to be controlled there are equally effective chemical-free alternatives.
“Weeds are inspiring me at a time when there is doom and gloom about issues like climate change, by the way they continue despite the efforts against them. They are survivors and that is quite hopeful.”
Groundsel is one of the most widely distributed plants in the world. Each small plant generates around 1,700 seeds, and will produce three generations in a single year.
“In terms of biological survival it’s an incredibly impressive plant,” says Anna.
“Lots of the book was written down by the Tweed, especially just by the river at the end of Bridge Street in Berwick. There’s a tarmac path along the river towards the railway bridge. It’s surprisingly species-rich.
“The river is there, there are birds feeding on seeds – it contributes to an amazing area for biodiversity. I spend a lot of time going along that path and seeing what’s coming up - all that life crammed into the cracks.”
Anna’s event in on Sunday, March 2 at Alnwick Playhouse, from 12.30pm.
Understorey: A Year Among Weeds is published by Duckworth Books and priced at £18.99 (hardback) with the paperback due out on May 1, at £10.99.