Make Sure to Keep Your Garden Weeded
I’ve been doing a lot of gardening lately, which isn’t surprising since it is summer. I have a huge flower bed in the front of my house, which is approximately 6ft. by 4ft. Then in front of the walkway to my house is another long slender bed that follows the curve of the sidewalk up to the front door. Keeping up with the weeding in these two beds is a constant struggle. The other day while crouched over in the bed pulling long weeds out by the handfuls I couldn’t help but think how gardening is an excellent metaphor for life.
Have you ever noticed how the weeds grow right next to the roots of good plants, sucking the water and minerals in the soil away from the desirable plant? Two weeds that are particularly invasive in my garden are wild strawberry and creeping charlie. These vines send out tendrils that wind themselves amongst the flowers eventually becoming so dense that the vines choke out and kill the wanted plants. Once one of these types of weeds have been introduced into your flower bed, or lawn, it is nearly impossible to get rid of.
In an effort to help me keep the weeds in my flower beds under control, my husband strategically placed flagstone over dense patches of crab grass, dandelions, and clover. However, when I was weeding the other day, I noticed that this effort only crushed the green of the weeds and wilted them; however, the flagstone didn’t destroy the roots, so the weeds only wormed their way out from under the safety of the stone and continued to grow.
Therefore, the only way to eradicate the weeds is to destroy their roots. Considering that they grow so closely to plants that I want to grow, getting at the roots is nearly impossible. If I hand pull the weeds, I risk damaging fragile starts and stems of new growth. Using chemical weed killer is out of the question since the liquid or spray will most likely get on the flowers and kill them as well. So the best I can do is pull the weeds that I can and use mulch the stifle the weeds I can’t pull. Vigilance is a must. Weeding needs to be a daily habit so that the invasive plants don’t grow out of control and don’t get the chance to root themselves and choke out what is good and desirable.
Isn’t this how life is? “Weeds” or bad habits sneak into our lives and root themselves. At first these habits seem innocent, something we do to relax or fill a void “for now,” whether its overeating, not exercising, overspending, compulsive shopping, smoking, substance abuse, or pornography. We tell ourselves that we deserve a break. But soon these innocent past times become something we need, something we can’t do without. Removing these weeds from our lives once they have become rooted can be nearly impossible to get out from under, yet we must or they will destroy our lives or even kill us.
The only solution is prevention–daily vigilance, taking care of ourselves and being mindful of our needs, finding healthy habits and outlets to give ourselves the break we truly need and deserve. Weeding the flower garden of our lives is important, and sometimes “weeding” can save our lives.
June 19, 2009 10:30 am 
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