I used to be a professional landscaper so it became my second nature to pull weeds out of a bed whenever I notice them. The rule of thumb is not to let weeds go out of control. The common method is the early stage weeding and regular maintenance.
In conventional gardening weeds are not welcomed in any format. You remove the visible part. You remove the roots. You prevent the seeds from spreading and germinating.
Although people are getting more cautious of the use of herbicide, the basic mentality is still there. Weeds have to be removed. The more they are removed the better. Whether you use herbicide or not you want to get rid of them.
In permacultural or natural/ecological gardening, weeds are considered not a simple nuisance but something useful. They are free source of nutrients, shelter for insects and other wild life, mulching material, and so on.
Chop-and-drop is the technique to cut the top of the weeds, leave it there and let it decomposed. You can probably see it on Youtube and find it seems very simple and easy. I thought so and have been trying in various situations. I just say weeds are usable but not automatically useful for now. How to make it useful will be the point and I will write about it in a separate post sometime.
When you shift your gardening from conventional to more ecological or sustainable, weeds are great material to learn with.
In my opinion, no matter which gardening method or philosophy you go with, the rule of thumb never changes; Do not let the weeds go out of control. Whether you kill them or use them, you are the one who has the control.
The conventional goal is to remove the weeds completely. Zero. You want to remove roots, seeds and any part of the weeds that reproduces the next generation.
The sustainable goal is to maintain the balanced number. Not too much or too little. Neither zero or billions. No extreme. The purpose of Chop-and-drop is to slow down their reproduction but not to exterminate. You expect some weeds come back again and again. Under your control, they produce the free material again and again.
Once you get this sense on your own (I believe understanding this as knowledge and getting the right feeling through actual experiences are two separate things), your weeding mentality changes. You don’t need to fight to remove the dandelion roots completely. You don’t need to dig up all weeds as soon as you find. Some of them should be the mother of next generation, so let them survive.
Weather is beautiful. Enjyou the sun and your gardening!