Hidden Nature II

Hidden Nature II

    My neighbors don't care for me; well, that's not true at all for we get along quite well.  What they really don't care for (but put up with) is my yard.  It looks fine to me, and I do mow and edge it regularly but therein rests the problem, that definition of "regularly."  Since my wife and I live on a corner, we have many "neighbors" and it seems that the majority of them are quite fanatic (my words) about their lawns.  A simple mowing becomes a two-hour exercise of edging and blowing and yes, vacuuming up fallen pine cones and such.  Then comes the fertilizers and weed killers, first in spring then throughout the summer and lastly in fall just before the snows arrive.  And watering?  One would think that in our desert state that we had unlimited water (actually, the state of Utah does have the highest per capita usage of water and yes, we are considered a desert state)...but boy, their lawns are green, almost unnaturally so (think golf course green).  Meanwhile, my lawn sits unfertilized and growing just a tad longer than theirs.  Weeds come and go, the dandelions looking as beautiful as ever with the occasional rebels growing tall and seeding before I can come and mow them, those rascals (I've made a deal with my dandelions that if they grow low and under the mower's blade, they can stay...and call it my imagination but years later, the majority of the dandelions along my curb are quite low, growing almost like moss and their flowers quite content to create their own low carpet of yellow).  My own theory is that all of the plants along the curb --from the trees to the grass to the weeds-- will work it out as they're sprayed with salty water from the snow plows in winter and little else in the way of nutrition other than the pine needles I sweep into piles and mulch.  So their diet is a salty and acidic mix of dead "leaves" (the pine needles)...but, they seem to have adapted well.

    Study the dandelion and you'll notice that it is another marvel of nature, it's leaves generally sloped slightly upward to direct any water toward the center and downward and thus to its plunging singular tap root.  Here's just one modern view of the dandelion, taken from medical center at the University of Maryland: While many people think of the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) as a pesky weed, it is chock full of vitamins A, B, C, and D, as well as minerals, such as iron, potassium, and zinc.  Dandelion leaves are used to add flavor to salads, sandwiches, and teas.  The roots are used in some coffee substitutes, and the flowers are used to make wines...In the past, dandelion roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems.  Native Americans also boiled dandelion in water and took it to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and upset stomach.   In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), dandelion has been used to treat stomach problems, appendicitis, and breast problems, such as inflammation or lack of milk flow.  In Europe, dandelion was used in remedies for fever, boils, eye problems, diabetes, and diarrhea.  In some studies, the dandelion lessens or blocks the effects of some antibiotics such as Cipro.  But I like them (but don't eat them), watching the bees and other bugs pleasantly arrive to a pesticide-free stretch of these flowers.  Adding to the ill-fated lore of dandelions here's what Wikipedia wrote about this "weed": The dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good companion plant for gardening.  Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants, and add minerals and nitrogen to soil. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and release ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen...Dandelions are also important plants for Northern Hemisphere bees, providing an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season.  Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).  They are also used as a source of nectar by the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of the earliest emerging butterflies in the spring...Dandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory...The English folk name "piss-a-bed" (and indeed the equivalent contemporary French pissenlit) refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots.

    The late Euell Gibbons used to recommend gathering only the leaves of newly emerged dandelions, to toss into a salad or to make into a tea, the older plants proving a bit more bitter and gathering more pollutants from passing cars (in his day, gasoline still carried a lot of lead which would settle from the air and be absorbed by roadside gardens and plants --if you're too young to recognize the term "unleaded,"  that was a regular part of filling up your car at a gas station).  Of course, today you can purchase all sorts of dandelion whatever, some stores even selling the fresh roots and leaves (as a reminder, here in the U.S. all of the herbal and vitamin industry is not regulated so you don't really have a way of telling exactly what you're getting in those bottles).  But the dandelion is just one of the many plants just outside your door (or in the cracks of sidewalks or on roadways).  Tough and adaptive, the plant has become a weed possibly because we simply can't control it...broad-leaf weed killers and yes, torches, have all tried and for the most part, given up; come the next year, the plants emerge changing their tune and ready for the next "battle."  Even organic and natural killers* (such war-like terms) such as those made from citrus oil or chrysanthemum flowers can be non-discriminate, hurting or killing beneficial insects as well as those weeds.

    And that's just the dandelion.  In her book Subruban Safari, author Hannah Holmes writes that gill-over-the-ground or more commonly ground ivy (yes, another invasive species and for the most part, more prevalent than the dandelion): ...reportedly cures anything that ails me...This humble weed is said to possess the qualities of an antihistamine, an antibacterial, an antioxidant, a cancer preventative, an antispasmodic, an antiviral, an expectorant, a stimulant of the immune system and a sedative of the mind, and a cure for hyperchondria, not to mention monomania.  But it is also supposed to be an anti-inflammatory.  Hmmm, the National Park Service says it's basically just a weed that is almost impossible to get rid of.   Add another hmmm because Wikipedia says that this so-called "weed" is attractive to bees, looks nice in the garden, has all sorts of medicinal properties, can be substituted for animal rennet in making cheese and yes, was used for help in brewing beer.  A weed?

    But once again, I digress.  There is more, much more, for I haven't even gotten to those defenses that plants put up, their communication systems far older and in many cases, far more effective than ours.  And of course, the nitrogen...when will I be getting to the nitrogen (from the last post) causing so much harm to our forests.  Then add in the tannins (wine, of course, but more prevalent in trees) and the terpenes (think turpentine) and alkaloids (now we enter the world of tobacco and coffee), and the plant world continues...right outside your door.  As for my yard, well, this is not to say that what I do, especially regarding the dandelions, is better or worse than my neighbors...but I do think that I have more bugs and bees and spiders roaming my premises and nary a mosquito daring to venture nearby, an ecosystem that is holding in its own small way, or so I imagine.  As for the trees and all their own tricks of the trade, displayed even as they blow in the wind and sway in front of you, well, that will have to wait until the next post (sorry, but there really is a lot to tell about trees!).

    

*An earlier description, including the use of pre-emergent  corn gluten, comes from a 2014 post at the site of UC Davis.