Chickweed: A Weed You Want in Your Garden

I know that most gardeners moan at the sight of even a single weed, and rip them all out as soon as they appear. But my garden has lots of weeds – and I love them. Yes, even in the vegetable beds. While not all weeds, of course, are desirable, there are plenty of weeds that are great – and chickweed, Stellaria media, is one of my absolute favourites.

This is a good example of how our perspective on a garden can shift when we begin to look more closely at the ecology of a place, rather than trying to impose generic ideas of what a garden should look like.

If you are thinking about how to work with your land rather than against it, I offer 1:1 Land Strategy Calls to help you better understand your site and make informed decisions from the outset.

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Reasons to allow chickweed to grow in your garden:

• Chickweed is an edible plant – though it contains saponins, it can be great in small quantities in salads. And also tastes pretty much like spinach when cooked. Cooking destroys the saponins, and we happily eat in and enjoy it quite regularly.
• It also has a long history of use in herbal medicine.
• As the name suggests chickens love it too.
• And since this is a plant that self-seeds – prolifically – there is plenty to go around.
• Chickweed is often called a ‘dynamic accumulator’, and while the science is lagging behind, there is at least anecdotal evidence to suggest that it can be beneficial when chopped and dropped, used as mulch or added to a composting system.
• It can also be used as a living mulch as, with shallow and fibrous roots, it will not compete too much with deeper rooted plants. I use it as a companion plant in my polytunnel alongside and between some annual crops.

This kind of layered, multifunctional thinking is at the heart of good garden design — where each element serves more than one purpose and contributes to the whole system.

If you are planning your own garden or growing space and want to take a more integrated approach, a Land Strategy Call can help you map out what makes sense for your particular site.

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• It spreads well (and quickly) to create good ground cover and protect the soil.
• The flowers are very pretty, though small. They attract beneficial insects, and even give clues about the weather. (Flowers close during set-in depressions, as well as in dull conditions.)

Another reason why you want chickweed in your garden is that it tends to love fertile soil. So seeing it popping up in your garden and growing lushly can be a sign that you are doing something right in your permaculture garden, and that your soil is rich and healthy.

Paying attention to these kinds of natural indicators can tell you a great deal about your land — often more than generic advice ever could.

If you’d like help interpreting what your site is telling you and developing a clear, practical plan, you can start with a Land Strategy Session.

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