Garden identifier: weed seedlings
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Tuesday, 1 October 2019 at 7:46 am
Find out how to spot some of the most persistent garden weeds with help from this ID guide.
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Tackling weeds as they emerge means you can get on top of them before they get out of hand.
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Broadly speaking, weeds are plants in the wrong place. In beds and borders, they compete with other plants for light, water and nutrients, making it harder for other plants to grow. Check out this advice on dealing with annual and perennial weeds.
While weeds are a persistent thorn in the side for gardeners, it's important not to be overzealous in eradicating them, as many can benefit wildlife. Nettles, for example, provide food for the caterpillars of red admirals, commas and small tortoiseshells.
If you can, make room in your garden for an uncultivated patch where weeds can grow freely. Choose a tucked-away spot so you can focus your energy on the more visible areas of the garden. Boost the biodiversity in these areas by creating dead wood habitats or a stumpery for insects.
More weed-busting advice:
- Weeding without chemicals
- How to weed a wildflower patch (video)
- Can I eradicate horsetail? (video)
- Five ways to eradicate weeds
- Removing Japanese knotweed
Use our handy guide to weed seedlings to identify unwanted arrivals.
Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) weed seedling
Spot it: identify this widespread weed by the distinctive rosettes of leaves with deep tap roots. Spreads rapidly by seeds after flowering.
Solution: dig out the entire taproot and don't let it set seed.
Bramble, Rubus fruticosus
Bramble (Rubus fruticosus) stem
Spot it: stems root into the soil to form thickets. The fruit (blackberries) also spread seed.
Solution: cut back plants when young and dig out all roots.
Speedwell, Veronica persica
Speedwell (Veronica persica)
Spot it: delicate looking, with small blue flowers, it seeds itself through lawns and borders.
Solution: hoe or mow it out before it can seed and spread.
Nettles, Urtica dioica
Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Spot it: a tough perennial with strong spreading stems and thick roots.
Solution: dig out the plants and their roots before they can get established.
Lesser celandine, Ficaria verna
Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) seedling
Spot it: this perennial grows from persistent root tubers and has flat, heart-shaped leaves and yellow spring flowers.
Solution: dig out every single piece of root.
Hairy bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta
Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) seedling
Spot it: short-lived, but it spreads rapidly via thousands of fast-germinating seeds.
Solution: remove plants when young, before seeds form.
Chickweed, Stellaria media
Chickweed (Stellaria media) young plant
Spot it: a quick-growing annual, chickweed spreads to form dense, smothering mats.
Solution: hoe out, hand weed or smother with mulch.
Bindweed, Calystegia sepium
Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) foliage
Spot it: a highly invasive perennial climber that will smother plants and take over beds.
Solution: remove every bit of root and plant, or it will return.
Couch grass, Elymus repens
Digging out couch grass (Elymus repens)
Spot it: this vigorous perennial spreads by creeping underground stems as well as by seed.
Solution: dig it out, removing every piece of root and stem.
Sun spurge, Euphorbia helioscopia
Sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia)
Spot it: common annual with abundant seeds that disperse explosively.
Solution: remove when young, before plants have time to flower and set seed.
Creeping woodsorrel, Oxalis corniculata
Creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata)
Spot it: Oxalis is a persistent weed with clover-like foliage that spreads by means of creeping stems that root and explosive seed capsules. The species has green foliage, though a purple-leaved type is also common.
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Solution: hoe repeatedly, smother with mulch or dig out all parts of the plant.
Time your weeding
It's particularly important when hoeing that you do it in the morning, on a dry day. That way weeds can be left on the surface to dry out and die before being raked up.
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