Tell Weeds From Plants - Being able to tell a weed from a plant is a skill all gardeners should eventually be able to do. Why? Because weeds aren’t just annoying– they can seriously harm your garden!
Now, I think it’s important to note that the term “weed” is a subjective one. For many gardeners, Dandelions are weeds. For others these are nothing but delicious additions to a salad.
Tell Weeds From Plants
In its purest essence, a weed is a plant that grows and reproduces aggressively and is unwanted by the gardener as it absorbs much of the space nutrients needed by other plants.
Plants often considered to be weeds by gardeners:
- Bermuda grass - perennial, spreading by runners, rhizomes and seeds.
- Bindweed
- Broadleaf plantain – perennial, spreads by seeds that persist in the soil for many years
- Burdock – biennial
- Common lambsquarters - annual
- Creeping Charlie – perennial, fast-spreading plants with long creeping stems
- Dandelion – perennial, wind-spread, fast-growing, and drought-tolerant
- Goldenrod – perennial
- Japanese Knotweed
- Kudzu – perennial
- Leafy spurge – perennial, with underground stems
- Milk thistle – annual or biennial
- Poison ivy – perennial
- Ragweed – annual
- Sorrel – annual
- St John’s wort - perennial
- Sumac – woody perennial
- Tree of heaven - woody perennial
- Wild carrot – biennial
- Wood sorrel – perennial
At the end of the day, there are two ways you can detect a weed:
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- Know what you planted. Keep a documented list of all the plants you’ve put in your garden, along with pictures. If it ain’t on your list, there’s a good chance it’s a weed.
- Take photos and upload to the web. What kind of features does this plant have? Google away!
But remember, what determines a weed is subjective– if you find a plant pervasively growing in your garden and you don’t like it hanging around– it’s a weed!
Tell Weeds From Plants