Tag Archives: weed identification

Katie’s Weeding Guide

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

Spring is finally here and what a great feeling it is to be out in the gardens again, seeing supple green buds and new growth. But that is not all I am seeing these days — weeds, weeds, everywhere! Tons of henbit, chickweed, and bindweed invading our gardens faster than I can pluck them out.

Here I provide a pictorial guide of our biggest offenders so that you might correctly identify these pests in your own garden and dispatch them quickly before they go to seed.

Oenothera biennis, common evening primrose, is not the well behaved, short statured primrose we use in landscaping. This garden bully is tall, lanky, and spreads seeds everywhere! Identification trick: looks for the prominent white vein and semi-pointed leaf tips.

What is a Weed?

I don’t like to throw that word around, and if you are unclear about what I mean by ‘weeds’ feel free to revisit my blog about proper lingo related to pest plants. In this post, I am simply meaning undesirable plants. This includes plants that may be native or naturalized, but are too aggressive or unattractive to be allowed in the gardens. This is a very subjective definition, but to keep this post brief, it must suffice!

Pennycress, Thlaspi arvense, forms many leaves on its rosette before it flowers. ID tip: leaves are hairless and elongated, and they form a sort of nest for the budding flower.
Wild carrot (Daucus carota) and spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata) are very hard to tell apart when they are young. No problem, because I don’t want either of them in this garden! This photo shows wild carrot. ID tip: look for hairy stems and smell the crushed foliage. It should smell like a bitter carrot. DO NOT TASTE THIS PLANT! Wild carrot is very similar to poison hemlock, so do your homework and be safe.

Fool Me Not

Plants are wonderful tricksters. It is often too hard to positively identify them in their early growth stages. In this way, weeds and desirable plants alike commingle in our gardens because we are afraid to accidentally pluck out something we want! Many young plants have basic, nondescript leaves and haven’t developed hairs, waxy coatings, or conspicuous colors that help humans tell them apart. Many weeds right now are in their rosette stage, without flower stems to distinguish them. So you must find other ways to suss them out! Each photo caption includes an ID tip to help you out.

Wild lettuce (Lactuca serriola) is a rather pernicious weed that has weasled its way into our Birdwatch Garden. Some people use this plant as a wild-foraged addition to their salads, but I will stick with my garden spinach! ID tip: Wild lettuce will have spines on the underside of the leaves along the center vein. As it matures, its leaves stiffen and take on a bluish cast.
Field pansy (Viola bicolor) are a member of the Viola genus, just like pansy flowers from your nearby garden center. These adorable tiny flowers invade lawns and gardens alike. Could you stand to pull up something this cute? I don’t even bother. These add to the diversity of our lawns and they die away before the buffalo grass greens up.

Keep an eye out for part two of this topic, wherein I dive deeper ‘into the weeds’ about which weed species are truly pests and which should be allowed to happily coexist in your landscape.

Happy weeding!