What is the role of weed in an ecosystem?

Knowing what conditions tend to favor a particular weed species, and how that weed functions in relation to the plant community and ecosystem, can help the organic grower identify and change management practices that may be giving that weed an advantage over crops. read more

Taxonomically, the term "weed" has no botanical significance, because a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing in a situation where it is in fact wanted, and where one species of plant is a valuable crop plant, another species in the same genus might be a serious weed, such as a wild bramble growing among cultivated loganberries. read more

Successful organic weed control—managing the land’s natural weed response to cultivation—begins with an ecological understanding of weeds and their roles in the farm or garden ecosystem (Altieri, 1995; Sullivan, 2003). read more