WEEDS

Weed Removal   Weed Prevention   Weedkillers

Invasive Garden Plants   Weed Seedlings   Herbal Remedies   Weeds as Food

Weeds are simply plants which are growing in the wrong place. They are usually the native plants which are best adapted to the environment where they grow; sometimes they have been introduced in the past for culinary, medicinal or decorative purposes. The seeds they produce can lie dormant in the soil for many years, germinating when it is cultivated, or imported with 'new' topsoil. Even in a "wild" garden the native plants must be controlled to give the more pleasing effect we seek.
As you will see if you browse through the monographs on individual weeds, the plants which cause such a nuisance of themselves have many useful attributes as well. There are culinary and medicinal properties in most of them and some are not native, having been introduced for these uses and have become naturalised.

As weeds compete with garden plants for space, water, light and nutrients, we must constantly thwart nature and eradicate them or they will swamp the more delicate specimens. They can also be alternate hosts for pests and diseases, eg. Chickweed supports Whitefly, Red Spider Mite and Cucumber Mosaic Virus, Groundsel carries Rust.
In commercial growing the emphasis is on the seedling stage as they are more susceptible to herbicides, will not have damaged the crop yet, or attracted any diseases or pests. Organic growers can hoe or grub their crops and by continually cultivating fallow ground the reservoir of weed seeds will be reduced when the germinating seedlings are turned under.

Many people regard weeding as the the "ironing" of garden work, but the sight of a newly weeded border is very rewarding. When Robert Louis Stevenson, the nineteenth century author of Treasure Island, went to live on Samoa in the South Pacific, he took to gardening and wrote "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding".
It can be quite exhausting so perhaps better done in small episodes rather than epic crusades. The exercise is said to be as good as a session at the gym - all the bending, stretching and balancing. In fact the BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) organises sessions of clearing overgrown areas called the Green Gym. The participants warm up with a few exercises then move on to pruning, tidying and uprooting weeds like Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed. The cost of losing 30 pounds in weight using special diets and attending slimming clubs can be up to £4,500, so 'garden exercise' can keep you fit and save loads of money too, especially if the product of your effort is a supply of fresh vegetables.
Weeding is a very 'low-tech' job, the only tools required are a hand fork, a garden fork for larger specimens, and a bucket to collect the debris. Luxury extras are a kneeling pad and a pair of gloves.

When tackling your weeds it is important to know their growing habits so that you can follow the appropriate treatment. As with all living things they have an official or scientific name and it is better to use this when consulting about them as the common name can vary from region to region.
The plants can be categorised as follows:

Annual - germinate and mature in one season and die away leaving a supply of seed to germinate in the autumn or the following season(s), eg. Cleavers, Groundsel. It is important that they are removed before they can produce their seed.

Biennial - take two growing seasons to mature enough to produce seed, then die away. In the first season they germinate in early summer and most form a rosette of leaves at soil level, developing a long taproot. In the second season they produce an upright stem which flowers and sets seed. They are more easily removed in the first year by uprooting or treating with a contact herbicide at the seedling stage, but a systemic or translocated agent is more likely to be successful. If the flowering stem is prevented from growing the plant may become perennial, it is the production of seed which causes it to die naturally - ie. the plant is monocarpic. This can be seen with Thistles and Ragwort when they grow in regularly cut grass; the growing point of the basal rosette is below the sweep of the mower blades.

Perennial - form a storage system in their roots or stems and live for many seasons. They are the most difficult to remove as they have a number of methods to ensure their survival. First they can flower and produce seed for many seasons without dying away, and as for Annuals and Biennials, these are dispersed by various means to reach new ground as well as the surrounding area.
The other big advantage they have is that they can regenerate if the topgrowth is removed by grazing animals or fire, or when the herbaceous perennials die away naturally to survive adverse conditions such as drought or winter frosts. This perenniating system takes a number of forms, usually it is underground as fleshy roots, stems or leaves (as in the case of bulbs). So when eliminating these plants the underground parts have to be removed or destroyed to prevent regrowth. Some have roots or underground stems which creep around , eg. Bindweed, Ground-elder. Others spread using rooting stems or runners, eg. Creeping Buttercup.

Many of the monocarpic weeds can mature in a matter of weeks and produce seed, if the growing conditions are favourable, allowing them to have several generations in a season. These are known as Ephemeral plants due to this transient behaviour. Examples are Chickweed, Thale Cress and Hairy Bittercress, which are usually categorised as Annuals, although the latter can be a Biennial if it germinates in the autumn. Also it is the production of seed which triggers their demise, so if the flowers are delayed by adverse conditions or removed, eg. by mowing, the plant will remain for longer.

The two pages Weed Removal and Weed Prevention give methods on the treatment of the weeds after they have been identified. There are monographs for weed plants listed on the right which include details on their growth habits and methods of eradication. For a quick reference try the Weed Leaf or Weed Seedling pages first to identify the weed you are after. If you know the botanical name check this list.
Examples of herbicides to use are included, but usually they can be treated without resorting to chemicals. A squirt of Glyphosate is usually the best solution for deep-rooted perennial weeds growing in awkward places where digging would be difficult, like paths or around the roots of established plants and hedges. Also when removing persistant weeds like Ground-elder spraying the regrowth speeds up the process of eradication.

Not all of the physical manifestations which appear in the garden are dealt with in the weed section of this site. The mushroom-like growths are fruiting bodies of some plant diseases so are mentioned elsewhere, or they can be attached to Mycorrhizal Fungi which are beneficial to plants. Some of the listed weeds may not be counted as such in other publications, but from a gardening point of view they are a nuisance so are included, ie. Moss, Lichen, Liverwort and Algae.
There are some weeds such as Broad-leaved Willowherb, Dandelion which have wind-blown seed and will always return, but most can be eradicated with vigilance and following the correct method of removal. If the really troublesome ones such as Couchgrass, Ground-elder, Horsetail and Bindweed are absent then count yourself lucky and ensure they never arrive. Also it would appear that we are suffering from "Antipodean Revenge", we sent them our criminals and missfits during the Transportation of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, but now we have Least Yellow Sorrel, New Zealand Bittercress, New Zealand Willowherb, New Zealand Pigmyweed and Pirri-pirri-burr to contend with as well as pests like New Zealand and Australian Flatworms.

back to Top /\

Weed Removal   Weed Prevention   Weedkillers

Invasive Garden Plants   Weed Seedlings   Herbal Remedies   Weeds as Food

Use the back button of your browser to return to the previous page.

Back to Down Garden Services home page.

Use this button to file this page with your favourites
(When the page opens click on the destination, eg."Favourites" in Explorer or a bookmarking site such as Google)

	Select where to search:-  Search this site Search the Web

 ^Privacy