Reader: Gardens need all plants, but never weeds

Dear Editor:

I see the terms “liberal” or “conservative” thrown around a lot these days. As I look through one of my many seed catalogs, I think about which is best for my garden. Should I go conservative and plant sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers? Or should I be liberal and plant sorghum, loofah and yellow watermelons?

I know I’ll do the same thing I do every year; I’ll have a conserva-liberal garden. To have a truly successful garden, I have to have plants that are different and seem to contradict one another. But they all belong in my garden. In the soil, they are only taking what they need, and also providing nutrients to the plants that are not the same as themselves.

Some plants, I know, will be predictable and easy for me to tend. Others are going to challenge me and teach me new ways to nurture another living thing. The main thing I must do is care for them and respect their needs, even when it means getting up at 5:30 a.m. to water before the summer heat.

There are plants that I try to keep out of my garden. These are the weeds. The weeds are the ones that bring nothing positive with them. They drain the nutrients from the ground. They bully the young and the mature plants alike, harming them and making them weak and unproductive.

Weeds focus on being the only thing in the garden, destroying my hard work. Weeds should never be in the garden.

Nor should we let them in our daily lives. As United States citizens, we need to accept different beliefs and ideas and not become weeds in our great American garden.

Mike Landis
Medina, Ohio