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Hi eveyone, I just moved into a new house in eastern Nebraska last October. There is some stuff planted in our front lawn and I don't know what it is. They appeared to be some kind of bush and they looked really dead this spring so I sort of pulled them out not knowing if they would come back alive or not. Underneath all the dead I found some small green plants but I don't know if they are weeds that I need to pull out or if they are what was planted last year just re-growing. I have attached some pictures. Any help would be appreciated!
#2 might be purple coneflower. Don't pull it yet, or better still, feel down around the soil and if there is a decent sized rootball, it's a perennial. If you pull it and it comes out easily, it's probably a weed. But it sure looks like my baby purple coneflowers look right now.
When in doubt, leave it alone until you can get a positive ID as it matures.
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Rule of thumb is to wait 1 year, and write everything down. Once you know whether you like it (who cares what it is), then you can decide to pull it out or not.
#2 might be purple coneflower. Don't pull it yet, or better still, feel down around the soil and if there is a decent sized rootball, it's a perennial. If you pull it and it comes out easily, it's probably a weed. But it sure looks like my baby purple coneflowers look right now.
When in doubt, leave it alone until you can get a positive ID as it matures.
Agree with everyone that the first picture is unmistakably a chrysanthemum. The second has several mum seedlings popping up meaning a mum or two were let go to seed last fall. The other leaves are not in focus well enough to be absolutely sure of the plant yet. At this point those little seedlings could be rudbeckia (several types of black eyed susan plants have that kind of ribbing, or echinacea (purple coneflower) and even the old weed broadleaf plantain. Wait another few weeks before pulling on what looks dead. Your spring is barely underway and a lot of plants are still dormant. This means on the surface there might be some twigs and brown stuff from last year's growth but underneath the roots are still living and ready to shoot up new growth. Yanking at it now will damage prospective growth leaving it open to disease and weakening the roots. You may also have inherited a garden cared for by a happy seeder. I know several who gardeners who love to let their plants go to seed in the fall and then spread the seed around to grow a new crop of plants for replanting in in other parts of the garden. Echinacea and Rudbeckia are prime plants for that treatment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gentlearts
Rule of thumb is to wait 1 year, and write everything down. Once you know whether you like it (who cares what it is), then you can decide to pull it out or not.
That usually is a good rule of thumb, especially in an established garden, unless you can't tell plants from weeds in which case you can grow some mighty ugly looking and hard to remove monster weeds.
OP take a few more pictures of the things that pop up in the next few weeks and we might be able to ID plants and/or weeds for you. Most of us have plenty of experience yanking weeds from between our plants and start recognizing the bad stuff pretty quickly once it has a few more leaves. Between all of us we just may be able to help you get a good start on a garden.
Agree with everyone that the first picture is unmistakably a chrysanthemum. The second has several mum seedlings popping up meaning a mum or two were let go to seed last fall. The other leaves are not in focus well enough to be absolutely sure of the plant yet. At this point those little seedlings could be rudbeckia (several types of black eyed susan plants have that kind of ribbing, or echinacea (purple coneflower) and even the old weed broadleaf plantain. Wait another few weeks before pulling on what looks dead. Your spring is barely underway and a lot of plants are still dormant. This means on the surface there might be some twigs and brown stuff from last year's growth but underneath the roots are still living and ready to shoot up new growth. Yanking at it now will damage prospective growth leaving it open to disease and weakening the roots. You may also have inherited a garden cared for by a happy seeder. I know several who gardeners who love to let their plants go to seed in the fall and then spread the seed around to grow a new crop of plants for replanting in in other parts of the garden. Echinacea and Rudbeckia are prime plants for that treatment.
I would bet the farm that #2 is not a weed. Yes, it could be Rudbeckia, which resembles Echinacea at that stage, but I'd bet it's definitely one of those two. I spent time yesterday lifting volunteer Echinaceas (coneflowers) out of the ground and transplanting them, so I'm pretty sure.
The second picture looks like there might be a black-eyed susan coming up too.
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