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Well.. From the title you can probably make an educated guess that i am not blessed with green fingers...
I really dont know alot about gardening and my garden is quite overgrown with what estate agents would describe as "mature gardens" meaning years of neglect and over taken my plants!
Now.. I want to sort my garden out and eliminate the weeds.. Problem is the plants or weeds are so big I just dont know what weeds look like from other plants..
So need some help here.. Can anybody post loads of pictures of weeds up on here for me please?! Or atleast describe what weeds look like.. From large weeds to small ones...?!
maybe it would be easier and better if you post pictures of the plants your dealing with. it would be easier to tell what is a weed from what is not by pictures.
If you don't mind doing some clicking you might be able to find some of them.
When you do get around to weeding, don't just yank them out as most will regenerate eventually. Pull slowly and firmly from as close to the ground as you can get or just dig them out to make sure you get all the roots. It helps if the soil is moist. If the ground is dry they'll hang on for dear life and as often as not you'll just pull out the stem.
The definition of a weed = anything growing where you don't want it.
So you would be better off trying to find out what "good" plants you have. Call your county extension agent and ask him/her or a master gardener who needs to give back some of the 50 hours they promise to donate to the community in exchange for the course, to come out and identify all your shrubs, trees, perennials. I take it you didn't plant much yourself. Before you have anybody help you, get some good labels which will not fade in sunlight- don't use plastic cutlery with permanent ink-it fades too quickly. I bought some mail order years ago and can't remember. Then right then stick the label in the ground so next time you see something you are not sure of you will have a frame of reference. If you are in a home which has a mature landscape with shrubs and flowers and you didn't plant any of them, you might have some real treasures and don't know it. Some local garden clubs help folks in exchange for divisions, etc. It is worth a try. You will never be able to identify weeds from pictures as they look different in different stages of life.
You might take a few - roots wrapped in paper towels and stuck in baggies to a really good nursery person to help you identify them. then go home and pull only those which you know for a fact are weeds. This time of year, it's a good bet that anything tiny is probably a weed unless you threw out some seeds.
You will never be able to distinguish weeds from non weeds by using generic criteria. You need to know the specific forms of weeds and just pull them out as you see them. Like others have said it would be much easier for you to post pictures of what you think are weeds in your yard so we can identify them.
If they grow and blossom along the road side, they are called wildflowers. Then, when they are finished blooming, they become weeds.
Weeds seldom come back from the roots every year. They usually come from self-seeding. If they stay big over the winter, and sprout out with new foliage in the spring, they are probably just overgrown garden plants. BUT if you don't like them, or don't want them, get rid of them.
The best thing to do is put down PREEN early spring, late winter, well anytime something can germinate. It keeps weeds from getting started in the first place. Don't try to grow anything from seed in that same bed for at least 3 or 4 months.
I've had many many years of gardening experience and a horticultre degree and I still can't identify weeds by name but I usually can tell the difference in seedlings I want and weed seeds., It just takes experience and training your eyes and sometimes your hands so you don't rip up something you'll later regret.
I agree with a previous post. A weed to one person is a delight to another. Clear it out and start over. That's the only way you'll know what you have.
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