Weeds, Plants and People

Weeds, Plants and People traces the fascinating history of many common plants that we now treat as weeds. From the thistles and thorns that appear in the Bible, to the seeds eaten by Stone Age people, and the grasses and flowers brought to Australia by European settlers, the story of the relationship between people and weeds is a complex and intriguing one. Here it is told in a lively and engaging way for readers with or without botanical knowledge. Anybody interested in gardening, agriculture, the natural environment, medicinal herbs or cooking will glean a great deal from John Dwyer’s account of some of the most ancient plants known to humankind.

Weeds are a feature of the continuing exchange between humans and the natural world. Without humans there would be no weeds.  It has been said that ‘weed’ is not a botanical category but rather an aspect of human psychology. When we talk about weeds, the terms we use are often emotive and reveal deep-seated and irrational feelings of fear that cause us to exaggerate the threat they pose.

Can there be gardens without weeds? Part at least of the value of gardens lies in a reciprocal interplay between humans and nature. When we garden we select plants for their beauty and other features such as scent, foliage, habit and so on. But selection of some plants implies rejection of others: the wildlings that are as inevitable in a garden as any other feature. The weeds could be seen as selecting us as they volunteer not just in our gardens, but on our roadsides, waste places and waterways. Wherever there is human disturbance, opportunistic weeds will come.

The relationship between humans and many weeds has endured for millennia, but not as a constant. As the examples discussed in the book show, the identity of weeds is continually being negotiated as the plants are perpetuated through history. Plants once valued as a food may now be discarded as unwanted. The terms of the engagement change with fashion, and as human wants and needs, and the plants available to meet them, change. The deep history of the relationship is a multi-faceted matter of constant engagement and re-engagement.

Most of the weeds discussed in the book have become part of the Australian flora and are commonly encountered here in gardens and landscapes. The weeds should be understood to be integral to the systems of agriculture and horticulture that were imported to Australia following European settlement. They are part of our culture, and need to be understood in the conservation of significant gardens and landscapes. As Professor Tim Entwisle, Director and Chief Executive Of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria says in his Foreword to the book ‘This book is a celebration of weeds and their individuality.

The book also explores the so-called ‘War on Weeds’ and the overuse of herbicides that it entails. It argues that we should find a better way to manage and to live side by side with the many wild plants we encounter in our gardens, farms and landscapes, than to wage war on them.

The Australian Garden History Society provided generous support for the book through the Kindred Spirits Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to foster the scholarly, literary, educational, scientific and artistic aspects of the Society, and to advance educational and other purposes beneficial to the community. The Society promotes the conservation and appreciation of historic gardens and significant landscapes in Australia.