Volunteer Plants

Volunteer plants are an exciting surprise for gardeners. These plants grow without being planted, so they are always unexpected.

Volunteer plants are an exciting surprise for gardeners. These plants grow without being planted, so they are always unexpected.

Volunteers grow from seed just like planned plants, but the seeds are not planted by human hands, and that’s where the “volunteer” moniker comes from—they volunteered to grow without your input. These surprise plants could come from seeds deposited in bird droppings, seeds that didn’t degrade in compost or seeds that survived in the soil from a garden planted years ago.

What makes these volunteers so exciting is not only that they’re free, but that you don’t really know what you’ll end up with. It can pay off to keep an eye out for the types of “weeds” that are growing before you pull them out. For example, in my garden, tomato plants started sprouting—all over. I’m sure these seeds came from the compost that I spread over my garden, but I’m not really sure what variety of tomatoes to expect. It’s a “wait and see” thing!

Volunteer plants will produce fruit, as long as they grow during the right time of year. Whether you pull them like weeds or let them grow is up to you. Volunteer plants tend to be stronger and more resilient than nursery transplants because they chose their growing location. If you don’t like where they popped up on their own, you can always dig them up and replant in a more convenient location.