Gorse, also known as furze, is a highly invasive woody, prickly plant that was initially introduced into Australia for use as a hedging plant—a purpose it serves well in the UK. Unfortunately it has thrived in this  country and now has occupie [...]

Mullein is also called Aaron’s rod, blanket weed, lamb’s tongue, flannel leaf, feltwort, velvet dock, white mullein, nappy weed, woollen rag paper, torches, candlewick or Jacob’s torch. It is thought by many to be a very attractive plant, and [...]

Green manures are crops grown to improve the soil condition and nutrition. They can help crowd out the weeds you don’t want, and some even get rid of soil diseases. Instead of being harvested, the crop is dug into the soil while still lush and [...]

Native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, Hawthorn is now common around the world. It has traditionally been used as a hedge in rural areas, and these days it’s often seen associated with fence lines. In countries where it’s an intr [...]

Healthy gardens thrive on biodiversity, which is just a fancy way of describing having a big variety of all living things in the garden – trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, birds, insects and microbes. Plants we often call ‘weeds’ help to create b [...]

Native to Eurasia, so usually considered a weed in Australia, it’s an annual herb with a taproot, which grows from seeds that germinate anytime from autumn to spring. It flowers from late winter to spring. Read the article in Spring - Week 9. [...]

Also called wireweed, birdstongue, cowgrass, and pigweed, knotgrass grows prostrate (low to the ground), and is very hardy and drought proof, growing even in really poor soil (though it will get much bigger in better soil). It grows with a bur [...]

Many plants we think of as weeds are also herbs, and contrary to popular belief, are often doing more good than harm. Read the article in Autumn - Week 2.

Trees do a lot of their growing in spring and early summer, so it’s important they get a good start. At first they use the energy they stored in their tissues last season, but as their roots develop and grow, they are soon relying on the nutri [...]

Bare soil is the enemy of the organic gardener, and nature will immediately fill the vacuum with any plant that will grow there, in an attempt to heal the soil—and these are the plants we often call ‘weeds’. So, if you’ve just planted a fruit [...]

Also known as small-flowered mallow, cheeseweed mallow, little mallow. Marshmallow is an indicator of disturbed soil, often with high nitrogen content, and is commonly seen on roadsides and watercourses, but particularly where animals have con [...]

Also called Variegated thistle, Cabbage thistle, Gundagai thistle, Lady’s thistle, Marian thistle, Saint Mary’s thistle. Milk thistle is in the family Asteracea, and is native from Southern Europe through to Asia, but is now found throughout t [...]