Weeds
Persistent, opportunistic, and impossible to ignore — here's how to name the plants pulling up through driveway cracks and garden beds.
WeedStéphane Tendon / PexelsTaraxacum officinale
Dandelion
The bright yellow flower everyone knows, followed by the spherical seed head children love to blow apart. Deep taproots make it nearly impossible to remove by hand.
Did you know? Every part is edible — the young leaves make a bitter salad and the roasted root has long been used as a coffee substitute.
WeedAnimesh Srivastava / PexelsUrtica dioica
Stinging Nettle
Serrated leaves covered in tiny hollow hairs that inject a stinging, itchy irritant on contact. It forms dense stands in nutrient-rich, neglected corners of the yard.
Did you know? Despite the sting, nettles are a favoured food plant for butterfly caterpillars and make a nutritious cooked soup once wilted.
WeedPetr Ganaj / PexelsPlantago major
Broadleaf Plantain
Broad oval leaves lie flat in a rosette with a tough, narrow flower spike rising from the centre. It thrives exactly where nothing else can — under repeated foot traffic.
Did you know? A crushed leaf has traditionally been pressed onto stings and small cuts, earning it the folk name "healing leaf".
WeedTom Fisk / PexelsCirsium arvense
Creeping Thistle
Spiny, deeply lobed leaves surround clusters of small pale-purple flower heads. It spreads aggressively through underground roots, forming dense patches almost overnight.
Did you know? A single plant can send roots sideways more than two metres in a season, popping up new shoots well outside where it was first seen.
WeedMiguel Á. Padriñán / PexelsConvolvulus arvensis
Field Bindweed
Delicate pink-and-white trumpet flowers disguise a relentless climber that winds anticlockwise around any support, choking out neighbouring plants.
Did you know? Its roots can reach several metres deep, storing enough energy to resprout even after repeated pulling.
WeedPetr Ganaj / PexelsStellaria media
Common Chickweed
A sprawling, low mat of small oval leaves dotted with tiny star-shaped white flowers. It germinates fast and can carpet bare ground within weeks.
Did you know? It is one of the few plants that can flower in almost any month of the year, even during mild winter spells.
WeedDiện Nguyễn / PexelsChenopodium album
White Goosefoot
A tall, upright plant with a mealy, greyish-white bloom on its young leaves and diamond-shaped foliage. It seizes on any freshly dug or fertilised soil.
Did you know? A single plant can produce tens of thousands of seeds, which is why it appears so suddenly and in such numbers.
WeedBarış Yiğit / PexelsRumex acetosa
Common Sorrel
Arrow-shaped leaves and slender reddish flower spikes give this plant away from a distance, especially where it turns whole patches of grass rusty red in late summer.
Did you know? Its leaves taste distinctly sour from oxalic acid, the same compound that gives lemon-flavoured sorrel soup its tang.