I have been patiently waiting for the radishes and lettuce to grow so I can enjoy the first spring salad of the season. The lettuce is finally getting the first set of true leaves but it seems to be taking forever. The weeds, on the other hand, are another story.
The ground ivy has taken over the shade garden. A hectic schedule and what seems like monsoon season have prevented me from getting out there to pull it. I can see it creeping its way across the warmed soil from my kitchen window at speeds too fast to calculate.
Each year I plant more and more perennials to take up space so the weeds will have to compete. A large yard and a small wallet keep me from going overboard. I buy a little here, I take a cutting there and one day there will be no room for the weeds.
My favorite weed to hate is the one most difficult to get rid of. Common pokeweed is no laughing matter to the gardener who refuses to use chemicals. Pokeweed and the cockroach will survive anything. The Latin name is Phytolacca Americana and it doesnt make me hate it any less.
Common pokeweed prefers low, rich, somewhat disturbed, gravelly soils, and can be found in pastures, on roadsides, along fencerows, in open woods and wood borders, and on the western side of the Valentini property. Each year I attempt removal, donning boots, gloves and an attitude that scares small children, and each spring it comes back to mock me.
Pokeweed is not an unattractive plant by any means, but it is so invasive I feel my life would be better without it. Fermented juice from the berries the plant produces in summer may have been used to write the Declaration of Independence and letters home from brave Civil War soldiers, but its storied past doesnt impress me enough to allow it to take over the yard.
Seedlings emerge from mid-spring to early summer and grow a foot each day. Shoots emerge from previously established roots in the spring looking remarkably like villains from a comic book. Flowers are produced from July to September. Pokeweed seeds can remain viable in the soil for up to 40 years. Birds commonly eat pokeweed berries without adverse reactions and are probably an important means for distributing this species.
Pokeweed is poisonous and should not be eaten. The root is especially harmful to humans, pets and livestock. Symptoms of poisoning include a burning sensation in the mouth, excessive salivation, intestinal cramping and a host of other hideous things.
Getting rid of pokeweed is difficult because of the huge tap root. Digging up the plants may eradicate them from the yard, but unless you get the entire tap root, it will certainly come back each spring. Dig up what you can. When you see new sprouts, dig those up. You will have to quit your job as this will become a full-time endeavor.
Dont let plants go to seed. Keep digging. Try planting a more desirable plant in the pokeweed location to encourage competition. Keep digging. Beg friends and family for financial assistance. Keep digging. I have come to accept the pokeweed ritual as a rite of spring. I will probably never get it all but each year the patch is a little smaller and a little easier to manage.
Birds do eat the berries and leave delightful purple blotches on the deck and Jeep but, hey, theyve got to eat, too, right?
