Weed identification

So I've been digging up my new plot and looking at all the different, interesting weeds. It seems a shame to just eradicate everything that's already here, some of these seem to be naturals at growing along the shady south wall and maybe they have flowers that bees would like. I'm not from here and I know nothing about the plants here so I have no idea if anything would be worth keeping, so if you could help me out, that would be great. Even if it's all bad stuff... it's fun to find out.

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Not sure about the first two Eva, but I can help you with:

3. Sycamore tree. Get rid of it, quick! It's the weed of the tree world. Fast growing, competitive and will harbour thousands of aphids.

4. Not certain, but I think it could be Field sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis). Again, best got rid of. It spreads by putting out creeping underground stems and will also harbour plenty of aphids.

5. Ragwort. Poisonous to livestock (horses in particular), can be a bit dodgy for humans too, use gloves when you pull it out. Having said that, it does bear bright yellow flowers in late summer which insects love and is host to the colourful Cinnabar moth caterpillar. DO NOT let it seed.

6. Buddleia. Best not let it grow in that wall, as the roots will penetrate the wall and, in time, destroy the brickwork. A good large shrub in a sunny spot though, and much loved by butterflies.

7. Cleavers. It's the weed which produces those little hard, hairy 'burrs' which stick to your clothes sometimes. Those are next year's seeds. Pull it out before it spreads.

 

Thank you! Oh gosh those are mostly serious bad guys! Kill it with fire! (or meticulously pull it all up).

I looked up Buddleia, it grows like crazy all over Norfolk, I'd best remove it from my nice old wall because I know that stuff runs rampant.

 

I'm not sure about the UK but it's illegal here on the island to let Ragwort grow but that doesn't stop it growing in abundance though. I believe the seeds can lay dormant in the ground for twenty years or more. Ironically it's also the islands National flower!

 

Ha! That is so strange. Must be some sort of fearful respect that made it the national flower. Illegal... oh my! Is it a problem then, if I grow veg anywhere near where it was?

 

I think many years ago when the plant was adopted as the National flower people weren't aware of how poisonous it is. There's many here that would like to see it changed to the Fuschia as that grows wild in abundance here too.

Trunky has already warned you to wear gloves when pulling this out, if it's in flower don't take an instinctive sniff as that may have an asthma type effect on your lungs. When I have removed it I put it straight into a plastic carrier bag, tie it up, then into the dustbin. Anything you grow near it won't be affected, just be sure that you don't eat it by mistake if growing veg.

Many people, particularly non-gardeners are not aware that it is poisonous, but putting it into perspective a very high percentage of plants that grow in our gardens are poisonous to some degree.