Your Top 5 Worst Weeds

Discussion in 'Herbs and Wildflowers' started by Mowerman, Sep 19, 2015.

  1. Jimcub

    Jimcub Gardener

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    Dandelions
    Dog ( the real type )
    Nettles
    Creeping weeds any
    Quick growing grass
     
  2. Jimcub

    Jimcub Gardener

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    I had bind weed in a neighbours garden that was growing all over my back fence and yew, so I sprayed weed killer over as many leaves as I could including the any on the yew.
    Well after about 3 weeks I noticed that the leaves on the weed started to shrivel, upto now there is no sign of and weed at all
     
  3. Apple Blossom

    Apple Blossom Total Gardener

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    Ok ...... I have so many.... but what are the worst.....

    Nettles... just hate them as you can still feel where they have stung you for hours later :rolleyespink:

    Wild Brambles....and they grow back into the ground! ready to trip you up......

    Ground elder.... I did offer everyone from GC to come for tea to help me munch through it all

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    look a very healthy 3 course dinner :heehee: Mr AB is quiet accustomed to it now :roflol:

    He gets it for breakfast too [​IMG] and just to finish the day I've found a recipe for ground elder wine.... and its rose....:loll:

    And lastly...... Ivy..... I think one of the last owners had a fetish for Ivy of every colour and species, its everywhere and a blinking nuisance :psnp:
     
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    • Linz

      Linz Total Gardener

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      Dog.. aww! I used to have choc lab she was mental, ruined my lawn.
      And why the hate for brambles? :ouch1: Make lovely pies out of them!
       
    • shiney

      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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      Although we now have most of the bad weeds under some sort of control I suppose I still have my list of bad boys!

      Ground elder - now almost completely eradicated - took 30 years to get to this stage.
      Equisetum - still comes up but a weekly patrol during the peak growing season makes it less rampant. I have a grudging admiration for it.
      Strawberry weed - difficult to control in certain areas because of its ability to break in the wrong place when trying to extract the root.
      Creeping buttercup - seems to wait until your back is turned before running.
      Bindweed - also requires a weekly patrol.

      As our garden is so big I never expect to get rid of the weeds but I need to try and keep them under control. We rarely use any weedkiller but do keep a touch weedkiller for exceptional circumstances where it's awkward to do anything else.

      Other regular problems in the garden are:-
      Deadnettle - stingers almost all gone now.
      Plum suckers - everywhere.
      Dandelions - dug out over a hundred the other day.
      Ash seedlings - can be hard work and about 1,000 a year removed (every year for the last 43 years and the tree has been gone for almost 30 of those!).
      Thistles - eradicated.
      Couch grass - almost completely eradicated (used to creep through the hedge, 250ft long, from the abandoned garden next door, but the old fashioned solution worked. We grew turnips all along the boundary and it stopped the couch grass in its tracks!)
      Wild violets almost under control now - we do a once a year dig on them and only fill one wheelie bin each time.
      Ivy - under control to a certain extent.
      This summer we've removed about a million seedlings of verbena bonariensis from between our paving.
       
    • Jimcub

      Jimcub Gardener

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      My lawn was grown out of a jungle, but is now grass, with sods taken from else where to cover bare patches.
      As such I have a wonderful crop of yellow dandelions early on, then a wonderful crop of clover mixed in is 2 types of grass.
      One light green the other dark green, only solution is to rip it all out and reseed or landscape.

      Can't see a cheep option in either of these, as I can't do either without help
       
    • CanadianLori

      CanadianLori Total Gardener

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      I had to google bindweed because I didn't know what it is. I have seen something that looks like that growing wild up telephone poles but never in my garden.

      Dandelions - from next door and the open areas
      Wild violets - from god knows where
      Nettles - from next door
      Crab grass
       
    • Ian Taylor

      Ian Taylor Total Gardener

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      All of them as I cant seem to get rid of them no matter what I do :wallbanging: :yikes:.
      So now I'm putting down weed proof membrane and bark chippings then if the dreaded weeds coming back it easier to deweed with any luck :yahoo:
       
    • kindredspirit

      kindredspirit Gardening around a big Puddle. :)

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      1) Annual Meadow Grass.
      2) Switch Grass.
      3) Ordinary Grass.
      4) Hairy Bittercress.
      5) Dandelions.

      As you can see, grass is by far the most invasive weed. (I blame farmers and people who have lawns!) :) :)
       
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      • shiney

        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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        I hope you're not referring to our hunting area, which Shiney keeps specially for us!!

        P1200542.JPG

        P1240395.JPG


        He tells people that it's his wild plant area but we know what he really means :blue thumb: :cat-kittyandsmiley:

        P1170032.JPG
         
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          Last edited: Nov 16, 2015
        • Dave W

          Dave W Total Gardener

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          All creep in from next door --
          Nettles, Ground Elder, Willow Herb (fire weed), Brambles, Bindweed.
           
        • Agent Orange

          Agent Orange Professional Amateur

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          Currently waging a war on dandelions and self heal in the lawn and borders full of couch grass where Montbretia had been allowed to spread. I fact the Montbretia is now an enemy come to mention it. Yards and yards of it and next to no flowers:psnp:

          Ivy.

          Thats my 5 at the moment
           
        • Trunky

          Trunky ...who nose about gardening

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          Just putting in an honourable mention for a few which I've done battle with over the years.

          Two of my most pernicious weeds, with similar names but not related are Creeping Woodsorrel (Oxalis Corniculata) and Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella). They thrive in my dry, sandy soil and they're small enough to hide away amongst other plants while insidiously spreading themselves over a wide area surprisingly quickly. :mad:

          Another one, which thrives where most other weeds dare not venture is Common Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens). This little pest can colonise even the most seemingly inhospitable area of block paving or even the top of a brick wall and will hold on tenaciously, defeating all attempts at removal.

          Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) has already been mentioned, every time it goes 'ping' you know it'll be back with a vengeance next year.

          Last but not least, Chickweed thrives in my soil. It can carry on growing in the depths of winter, is equally happy on bare soil or hidden away under the brassicas and will regrow from the tiniest fragment after hoeing ... but at least the hens enjoy it.

          All great survivors which I've had to learn to live with, you have to admire them really. :psnp:
           
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          • Mowerman

            Mowerman Gardener

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            You mentioned Hairy Bittercress....

            That stuff is EVERYWHERE at the moment. It seems to thrive best in damp conditions, which may explain it prevalence in many of my customers' gardens - but I have a feeling that once it is there, it is there for good.

            I do hope not as it goes from a seedling to an exploding seeder in about 10 days for much for the year. The stuff drives me mad as many jobs are fortnighters, so it's done its wicked deeds between visits and there's naff all you can do about it. Bark chippings help suppress the worst infestations but not everyone wants them.
             
          • Loki

            Loki Total Gardener

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            Mine are
            Couch grass
            Bindweed
            Creeping buttercup
            Nettles
            Dandelions
             
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