It’s better to wear a pair of slippers than to try to carpet the whole world

When I call a help line these days, India is invariably on the other end of the receiver.

Americans have lost jobs to unlawful immigrants. The vanloads of Latino workers I see heading towards developments are rumored to be illegal.

But hey, all of our ancestors were once foreigners.

Many garden plants are immigrants and a lot of weeds sneak in, but if anyone tries to take away my peonies, Chinese dogwood, Japanese maple or hollyhocks, they will have to cart me away too.

Are non-native plants undesirables? Should I avoid planting aliens in my garden?

The question of who or what is a weed remains a thorny question (pardon the pun). For example, garden basil from Europe looks similar to the pernicious velvetleaf from Asia, and bindweed resembles morning glory.

Japanese knotweed is taking over the Delaware because aliens have escaped cultivation and are replacing natives in the wetlands.

Before I knew purple loosestrife was a bad guy, I rustled one on 17B and planted it in a dry, shady spot (a method for dealing with anything which might prove invasive), but it croaked after several non-invasive years there.

Kudzu and multiflora rose are taking over the south. Imported to reduce erosion, they are swallowing acres in a single gulp. On the other hand, kudzu is a fine medicinal plant used in Japan for intestinal complaints and cancer.

Plants like foxglove, originally from Europe, have proven delightfully invasive in my garden. Several neighbors mentioned that a relative of our foxglove had appeared in their yards. Seeds do travel.

English ivy, which grows non-invasively in my garden, is a pest on Long Island. Plant intruders in Connecticut, where the soil is sandy loam, have a hard time in this area’s rocky clay. Butterfly bush may be a weed in the warm, moist climate of Oregon, but it barely survives the winters here.

So what’s a mother to do?

Barbara Pleasant, in “The Weed Book: Earth Safe Controls,” writes that weeds indicate the health of the soil; for instance, pigweed, chickweed, dandelion and wild mustard appear pale if the soil is acidic, but they look bright green and robust when their host soil is neutral.

On the other hand, crabgrass and plantain prefer an acidic environment.

Believe it or not, weeds do not adapt well. If I was to abandon my garden tomorrow, the weeds would be gone in a few years as they are an emergency squad that shows up to stabilize disturbed soil.

From a weed’s point of view, the earth has been wounded and needs to be healed. Since I do not look at life from a weed’s point of view, I stabilize soil by cultivating as little as possible; turning the soil exposes tiny weed seeds to sunlight, which they need in order to germinate. I plant buckwheat, annual rye or wheat (cover crops) in the fall and dig small holes in the stubble for seeds and transplants during spring planting. I weed regularly, getting them before they flower or set seed, and if there is no time, I decapitate at soil level.

Periodically, cutting the heads off perennial weeds discourages them mightily, and I grow smother crops, planting intensively so there is no light and water for emerging weedlings.

I don’t mulch but lay down a layer of compost or manure. (Ms. Pleaseant says, contrary to common belief, manure has few weed seeds.)

The best book for identification is “Weeds Of The Northeast,” by Richard H. Una, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph Di Tomasio

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments please send them to asknanny@riverreporter.com.

[The title for this column was taken from the film, “Stuart Saves His Family.”]