Weeds in the garden

A weed is just a plant in the wrong place.

Any plant can be a weed if it’s running a muck somewhere you don’t want it. However, there are some plants that are considered weeds for a reason. Most of the time it’s because they are more invasive and aggressive than other plants.

This blog will help you identify and hopefully get rid of some of the worst offenders.

Dandelion

Pretty much everyone has heard of/seen a dandelion, probably in their own garden. There’s probably some of the buggers in there now. There have been dandelions in every garden that we’ve worked. There is no escaping them.

The dandelion is classified as a persistent, perennial weed, which basically means they’re hard to get rid of and they will keep coming back every year. They’re also not picky about where they grow. They can establish themselves in your borders, lawns, paving, cracked cement… pretty much everywhere.

The problem:

• The dandelion is really difficult to get rid of by digging alone but it is possible. The issue is its long tap root. If any of the tap root remains in the ground, even a little fragment, the dandelion can regenerate and come back.

What you can do:

• You can dig the dandelion out. You might not get rid of them entirely but you can keep them under control.

• Cut the flower heads off before to stop them going to seed (the white pom pom thing it does). This will stop them spreading.

• You can use weed killers. The best time is summer during a sunny day (rain will wash the weedkiller away). Re-apply the weed killer after 14 days.

Willow-herb

Willow-herb is a weed that everyone has probably seen but not known what it was called or even that it’s a weed. It frequently goes unrecognised as a weed due to its pretty pink flowers. This is a weed we see nearly everyday in nearly every garden we work in.

The problem:

• The issue with the willow-herb is the way it spreads its seeds. It produces an abundance of feathery seeds that are easily spread by the wind.

• The willow-herb is also very fast growing, so you could end up with a large patch of it in a short amount of time.

What you can do:

• Digging out is effective and a good mulch will help suppress its growth in your borders.

Ground elder

Ground elder is a weed that I’d encourage you to look out for and try to deal with as quickly as possible. We’ve worked in gardens that have been overrun by it and it is a nightmare to get rid of! It’s classified as an invasive, perennial weed, which means it spreads quickly and it will come back year after years.

The problem:

• The ground elder is spread by rhizomes (underground stems). This means it can spread from neighbouring gardens or wasteland and become established immediately.

• Also, like the dandelion, if a small fragment of the root is left, the ground elder can regenerate.

• It will choke your borders and make it harder for the plants in there to survive.

What you can do:

• Unfortunately, the only way to deal with the ground elder is to spray it. Use a tough weedkiller that contains glyphosate. Spray directly onto the leaves during a sunny day, Rain will make the spray less effective. We’re not big fans of spraying but when it comes to ground elder it’s the only way to get rid of it.

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Couch grass

Most people have had couch grass invade their borders, and we’ve worked in more than a few gardens where it’s taken over. It’s an invasive, perennial weed that looks just like a tuft of the grass and can just look like your lawn has made a mad land-grab attempt into your borders.

The problem:

• Couch grass uses rhizomes (underground stems) to spread. The annoying thing is that the rhizomes can become entangled in the roots of other plants making them difficult to remove.

What you can do:

• Couch grass is fairly easy to weed by hand. The root network is never that deep.

• The problem is when it’s in your lawn, because it’s very difficult to remove without digging out and re-turfing/over seeding.

Horsetail

The horsetail is a deep rooted, invasive, perennial weed. It will spread and crowd other plants in your borders. You might have seen these before in your garden. They are called horsetail (or marestail) because of their fur tree-like shoots that resemble a horse's tail… a bit… not really. We have one client who has a real problem with these.

The problem:

• The horsetail can have roots reaching up to 2m down into the ground. This makes them really hard to dig out.

• They also spread using rhizomes (underground stems) meaning it can spread over a wide area, in a relatively small amount of time

What you can do:

• Because the roots are so big, it’s nearly impossible to remove horsetails without spraying.

  • You can manage them by just digging them if you don’t like spraying. You’ll be able to keep on top of them, but you won’t get rid of them completely.

  • An aggressive problem could take several applications and a number of years to eradicate entirely.

Nettles

This is one everyone knows, has been stung by and maybe, like me, fell into a patch of them when they were young. Nettles are a perennial weed, meaning they’ll come back year after year. They will quickly take over an area of the garden.

The problem:

• Obviously, they sting.

• Nettles are really tolerant to most environmental conditions, which makes them really hardy.

What you con do:

• Digging up nettles is effective and you can suppress seedlings simply by hoeing.

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