Good news: One of the best ways to identify the weeds in your garden is to spend time just enjoying your garden! Giving your space some attention with a slow, weekly walk will help you familiarize yourself with the plants you know are supposed to be there versus the pesky plants that creep in.

Bad News: They DO creep in. And if you’re not paying any attention, they can take over in the course of a few weeks!

Some tips for identifying weeds:

• Take pictures of plants after a big planting day. That way if something else pops up that you think might be a weed, you can refer back to your pics.

• Have a weeding guide on hand. There are reference books and little pocket guidebooks that will help you identify the common weeds of your region.
• Move to an app! There are lots of phone apps now that use the power of crowd sourcing to help people identify the weeds in their gardens. I like LeafSnap, personally. Some phones now have this “look up” feature already integrated into their photo app. Be sure to double check if you’re not certain – these IDs aren’t always accurate.
• Typically, plants growing on edges of fences and curbs tend to be weeds (*any place that seems like an odd place to intentionally plant something…unless it’s spreading ground cover… can be a clue that you may have a weed on your hands).

• Take a look at the roots, some weeds like bindweeds are distinctive and run like a mat under the soil.
• Speaking of bindweed…many, but not all, vines are weeds.
• Ask us to visit and make a site specific weeding guide for you…or better yet, have your kids make one since they tend to be good with their phones. =)

• Remember that sometimes…it’s complicated. Some plants that pop up might actually be native to New York but delivered by the wind or a bird to your garden.

• Stay interested! Follow BBG’s Weed of the Month to familiarize yourself with common garden weeds so you’ll just know when you see ’em!