Garden Plants

60-second guide: weeds

Identify common weeds and how they spread so fast, in a minute

'The seeds of hairy bittercress ripen in pods that dry out, and then split open to expel seeds up to 1m (3ft) away.'

Horsetail

Bindweed

Weeds are spread by various means. Their seeds can be transported by birds, squirrels, mammals or via the wind into our gardens, or they can spread themselves very effectively as they grow. Weeds are, in fact, experts at spreading their seed and their various plant parts, to such an extent they appear to be taking over.

You need to spot and identify weeds if you want to remove them early on. It's easier to identify them when they are near maturity or flowering, but it's much better to deal with them before then, when they are small, manageable seedlings.

Bindweed

Bindweed (image above), ground elder and couch grass are weeds with underground stems. The weeds spread by rhizomes that produce shoots and roots and extend growth below ground. As this activity is invisible, these weeds can pose a real problem.
Hedge bindweed grows from rhizome fragments and will search for a structure to climb and eventually smother. Young shoots tend to have purple tips to the stems.

Cleavers

Cleavers

Cleavers and burdock are annual weeds with sticky leaves and seeds. Although quick to smother other plants, you can control them easily by pulling them, as the stems and roots are very weak. The surface of the seed is covered in fine hooks that attach themselves to another surface, such as animal fur or clothing. Later these detach and you have weeds in an entirely different place from where the seed originated.

Creeping buttercup

Creeping buttercup

Bramble and creeping buttercup are weeds that produce stolons (horiztonal stems), which in turn develop roots on these extending stems, making it easy for the plant to spread.

Dandelion

Dandelion

The dandelion is a weed that develops small, ripe seeds. The seeds for their part grow a cluster of fine hairs, which help to carry the seed on the wind.

Hairy bittercress

Hairy bittercress

This is a fast-growing annual weed that seeds very shortly after flowering, so needs quick action to prevent a rapid problem. The seeds of hairy bittercress ripen in pods that dry out, and then split open to expel seeds up to 1m (3ft) away.

Horsetail

Hosetail (image top of page) is a very difficult perennial weed to control. New shoots emerge in spring above black rhizomes that spread deep underground and may be distributed further by digging.

Lesser celandine

Lesser celandine

Lesser celandine forms swollen roots that detach from the main plant and then go on to support a new plant. This perennial appears early in spring and has leaves that look a little like cress. New seedlings will be smaller than the established plants, which produce bright-yellow flowers, followed by seed. The plant vanishes by midsummer, but digging may disperse the root tubers.

Adapted by Sarah Brocklehurst.

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