Wild weeds
A weed is not a particular type of plant, it’s simply a plant that grows in the wild. It’s a plant that is not planted on purpose. This means weeds can grow in some strange places where other plants might not survive, like along a wall or a concrete path. Weeds are very strong and hardy plants! Weeds can look lovely, and sometimes we want to leave them be. However, they can also prevent other plants that we want to grow from surviving by competing for food, sunlight, and water. We can remove weeds to help the rest of our garden grow. You can decide which weeds you’d like to keep, and which ones you’d like to get rid of
Sometimes, plants that are often considered weeds look beautiful and attract lots of useful wildlife like bees and butterflies. Let's learn the names of some and how to identify them
Primrose
Foxglove
Daisy
Dandelion
Thistle
Hogweed
HOW DO WEEDS SPREAD THEIR SEEDS?
How come weeds get everywhere in our gardens? It’s all to do with the clever way that plants spread their seeds far and wide to keep their species alive. Let’s have a look at how a special weed in particular spreads its seeds: the dandelion
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Step 1
Bees and other insects are attracted to a dandelion’s yellow flower. They help to move pollen from the male parts of the plant to the female parts to fertilise it
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Step 2
The seeds begin to grow. When this happens in a dandelion, the yellow flower turns into a fluffy dandelion ‘clock’
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Step 3
Dandelions make lots and lots of seeds. They all have feathery, white tops that look like umbrellas. This makes the seeds perfect for flying through the air. All they need is the wind to carry their seeds near and far
Before you know it, there are hundreds of seeds all over your lawn, which are all ready to germinate and make yet more dandelions. Other flowers and plants also have clever ways of spreading their seeds, including putting them inside tasty fruit so that animals eat them. Eventually, the seeds come out of the other end in their poo and start to germinate!