The practice of thinning seedlings has always bothered me. For one, I generally have to struggle to get a plant established. Thinning means that I toss some of that hard work. Another is the wasting of seeds. I don’t like killing plants, especially ones that I want.
You should only have to plant enough seeds plus covering for losses due to disease, pests, and fortune. It really surprised me see that the Native American 3 Sisters gardening practice requires thinning too.
My idea is to find a plant that could be used to provide a nursery environment for the young desireable seedlings like corn, bean, cucumber, watermelon, okra, etc. And this plant would be thinned when it was no longer needed. Or it would remain since it improves the soil. Or it doesn’t compete for sunlight or water.
Lamb’s quarter is very common in my yard. It grows quite tall and fast, but is very easy to pull out. And it comes in very thick. One of my very healthy beds is full of annual flowers and the lambs quarter has grown up betwen the plants. As long as it doesn’t block or crowd them I let it grow. Between the weeds and flowers there’s no space for grass or bindweed.
Lamb’s quarter is an example of a tall plant that has to be pulled. There should be a class of plants that are low, thick, and don’t need to be pulled. Another class of plants is mid-sized, picked to grow along with the desireables.
I’m not sure what other plants would fit these slots. Ideally, they would be local, native weeds since these plants are well proven in this area. A lot of plants wouldn’t make it here in the deep summer or in the deep winter without help. It would be great to find plants that don’t need care. Early season helps by increasing the growing season in the garden.