Killing Weeds – The Top 10 Weeds To Target

Whatever the size of your garden, whether you have an acre, a metre or a window box, I have no doubt that you will have had to think about killing weeds. But what type of weed do you have and what is the best way of killing weeds? This article will help you identify what species is growing in your garden and explain the best way of killing weeds. Although you will never completely eradicate every weed in your garden, killing weeds of the annual variety is essential if you want to have a weed free garden in the future. Below is a list of the top 10 most common annual weeds and how to identify them: • Chickweed (Stellaria media) – Grows low to the ground with shallow roots, leaves are oval shaped with a pointy tip and grow to about 15mm – 30mm in length. Small white flowers have 5 petals, each with 2 lobes. • Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) – Grows between 12-40cm tall, leaves are elongated and indented along the sides and can grow between 2-10cm long. Yellow flowers form in bell shaped buds. • Wavy and hairy bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa and C. hirsute) – Can grow to 30cm high with leaves made up of between 2-8 leaflets arranged around a single leaf. It produces small white flowers which have 4 petals. • Annual nettle (Urtica urens) – Has a mild sting and leaves, which grow to about 4cm long, are deeply toothed. The plant has many side branches and its white flowers are very small. • Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) – Has small triangular purse-like pods, a small number of pointed leaves and small white flowers. • Goosegrass (Galium aparine) – Can grow to nearly 2m in height and has thin leaves and seeds covered in tiny hooks which makes them cling to clothes and fur. It has small white flowers. • Fat hen (Chenopodium album) – Can grow as high as 150cm and its leaves are a distorted diamond shape, small yellow flowers grow on stalks. • Sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia) – Can grow up to 50cm tall and has oval leaves which are around 3cm long. The flowers are similar to the leaves but are yellow-green in colour. • Annual meadow-grass (Poa annua) – Grows up to 25cm high and has a flattened stem, its leaves are very long and droop down. Its triangular seeds grow in groups on stems. • Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) – Has fern-like leaves and a red stem, its leaves are pink with 5 petals. The best way of killing weeds that are in the list above is by using a weed killer. Using this method will ensure that both the plant and its roots are eradicated so further growth will be stopped.

It is important that killing weeds in the list above must be done before they spread their seeds which will lie dormant in the soil until the next season. When using non-selective weed killer for killing weeds, always make sure that any plants or flowers in the surrounding area that you wish to keep are covered as they may also be damaged.