Weeds: Friend or Foe?

What is good about this book goes beyond good photos of the weed and helping you identify, it is also fun to read. You really learn about the weed. You learn which weeds you can eliminate by eating and which weeds you really to have to fight against. The only weakness of this book, it doesn't have a key like the more technical, less informative weed book I own. This is actually less of issue than it could be, since I enjoy just reading this book from time to time, but I get no joy from reading the more technical book. Since I reread the whole book, I have little need for a key.

The days of needing two weed books - one that loves 'em, one that hates 'em - is over! Grab Weeds: Friend or Foe? for a wonderful change of pace in the world of weeds! While Sally Roth certainly does not encourage rampant weed growth in our lawns and gardens, her new book takes a relaxed and reasonable approach to weeds in our lives. Here is all the info in one place - without the usual biases. Ms. Roth does an excellent job of providing the pros (friend? - chickweed - stellaria media - can be used in salads before flowering) and cons (foe? - lamb's quarters - chenopodium album - can produce 75,000 seeds per plant) of each weed and allows the gardener to be discerning enough to make her own decision. But then this book goes the extra step with its section on what to do with weeds - like gardening WITH them - wow - healing with them, crafting with them. Although Ms. Roth does get to herbicides she does so responsibly and only after she has provided information on mulching, hand weeding, hoeing, and flame-throwers(!?). Herbicides are discussed in an excellent chart that provides a breakdown by type of garden and then discusses what the typical weed problem in that garden may be, what active ingredient may be best to use including some brand names, a description of how the herbicide works, plus any health concerns and/or environmental concerns a gardener may have by using a specific active ingredient. While there are clear photos of the identified weeds, this book would be doubly useful had there been seedling pictures, particularly since Ms. Roth spends much time explaining how important it is to be preventative and to pull weeds very early on. A great gift book for any gardener!