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 what 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 desired plants.

This guide 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.

The problem:

• The dandelion is really difficult to get rid of by digging alone but it is possible. The issue is it’s 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. This will stop them spreading.

• You can use weedkillers. The best time is summer during a sunny day. Rain will wash the weedkiller away. Reapply the weed killer after 14 days.

Willow herb

Willow-herb is a common weed that is leser known than the dandelion, frequently going unrecognised as a weed due to it 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 it’s 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 it’s growth in the borders.

• Luckily willow-herb sets out extremely shallow roots and can usually be easily pulled out.

Ground elder

The ground elder spread by rhizomes. This means it can spread from neighbouring gardens or imported soils and become established immediately.

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

• It will choke the border 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 on to the leaves during a sunny day, rain will make the spray less effective.

Couch grass

Couch grass is an invasive perennial weed that looks just like a tuft of the grass and can just look appear the lawn has made a mad land-grab attempt into the border.

The problem:

• Couch grass uses rhizomes 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 another deep rooted invasive perennial weed. It will spread and crowd other plants in a border.

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 steams) meaning to 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

Nettles are a perennial weed, meaning they’ll come back year after year. They will quickly take over an area of garden.

The problem:

• Obviously they sting.

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

What you can do:

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

• With thick gloves and long sleeved shirt, pulling the roots from below the soil surface where the stinging spines are not formed is a very effective and quick way to remove nettles completely. Thankfully the roots pull out well without breaking or needing digging out.

Dock

Dock leaf or broad-leaved dock are long-lived perennials with long tap roots which can grow up to 90cm in legnth. Commonly found growing alonside nettles these can at first seem like the easier target of the two but don’t be fooled.

The problem

Although unlike its neighbour it will not sting they can be extremely difficult to dig out properly.

Docks form a long tap root that can regenerate from just the top section of leftover broken root.

Seeds are produced in abundance and can survive for up to 50 years in the soil.

What you can do

Thorough digging out with a trowel ensuring as much root as possible is removed.

Apply glyphosate as a spot treatment to individual plants in borders or spray areas that have been cleared of cultivated plants.