Moss

What to look for: Primitive, ground hugging plants that thrive in damp places. Can appear on all kinds of surfaces especially under trees and hedges, as well as in lawns.

Where to look: Beds and borders, alongside hedges, sheds and on paths and drives

Fat Hen

What to look for: Spire-shaped annual plants, sometimes with reddish streaked stems, with oval to diamond shaped pale green leaves and clusters of pale green flowers. Once used as a vegetable, until the superior spinach was introduced in the sixteenth century.

Where to look: Borders and flower beds

Bindweed

What to look for: A climbing herbaceous perennial that can reach 3 metres, producing large white or pink trumpet shaped flowers between June and September. Can smother other plants by entwining its stems around them. Spreads by underground creeping roots, stems and by seed. It can be removed by digging, but as new plants can grow from even the smallest piece of remaining root, the problem inevitably returns after a short period of time.

Where to look: Hedges, borders and flower beds

Dandelion

What to look for: A rosette of dark green leaves close to the ground, with recognisable yellow flowers in summer. The leaves spread out and shade the grass, starving areas of light. Spreads by seed. Produces a long tap root, if you want to dig this out, make sure you remove all of the root as it can regrow from even a small part of it.

Where to look: Lawns, flower beds, borders ad paths

Ground Elder

What to look for: Dense patches of white flowering weed that can grow up to one metre tall. Grooved, hollow flower stems. Spreads by underground stems and sometimes by seed. If you want to dig it out, make sure you remove every single piece of the thick, white root as it will re-grow from even the smallest section.

Where to look: Flower beds and borders

Buttercup

What to look for: A perennial weed with long, creeping and rooting runners that can be a very serious problem in lawns and flower beds. The leaves are triangular with three deeply lobed segments. In lawns it forms a flat rosette that avoids the mower blades, and is a very aggressive weed that can colonise large areas.

Where to look: Flower beds, borders and lawns

Meadow Grass

What to look for: An annual grass that spreads by seed rather than runners, it is a flowering, tufted grass, sometimes with short creeping stems on the surface. Can become a nuisance as it produces seed all year round.

Where to look: Occurs naturally in lawns, but can spread to flower beds and paths

Nettles

What to look for: A perennial weed that can be quite tricky to get rid of because of its stinging leaves. It spreads from underground roots and is relatively easy to pull up, with the aid of a pair of thick gloves! Although a nuisance in the garden, the plants have several uses, for example they will activate the compost heap as the composted foliage is high in nitrogen and can be used to produce a liquid fertilizer!

Where to look: Flower beds and borders

Clover

What to look for: Bright green foliage and the well-known three (or sometimes 4!) lobed leaves. A perennial, it is a major headache on lawns, where the bright green leaves stand out against the dull grass during dry spells. Flowering between May and September, it spreads by seed and vegetative growth and can colonise large areas in a short time.

Where to look: Lawns, flower beds and borders

Daisys

What to look for: Daisies can either spoil or enhance a lawn, depending on how you see them. A few frivolous daisies may not be considered much of a problem, but they spread by seed and can colonise a lawn fairly quickly. The plants rosette of spoon shaped leaves hugs the ground, so are quite difficult to remove by regular mowing.

Horsetail

What to look for: An invasive perennial weed, the stems of this weed creep under the ground for several metres, and are so tough, they can even push their way through tarmac. The thin, green branched stems appear in all types of ground, from sandy to boggy. In spring, brown asparagus-like shoots appear with cones at the tips.

Where to look: Beds and borders, especially near damp areas

Plantain

What to look for: An evergreen perennial weed which spreads by seed and appears everywhere! Recognizable by the clusters of leathery leaves and spikes of tiny flowers, they have very strong roots, making them very difficult to pull out by hand.

Where to look: Flower beds, borders and lawns