Background: Purchased a home from an elderly man whose deceased wife was clearly a gardener, but who let the yard get badly overgrown after she passed. Now I need to differentiate between what should go and what should stay, and I have NO plant experience whatsoever, so some of these may be super easy for you experts. Common names are fine. The following are all most likely weeds, but I'd like to know my enemy!: 1.) I just picked out hundreds of these little guys yesterday in a recently cleared, woody shaded area. 2.) These have also popped up all over the place, but usually where there is also grass, and they have weird knobby roots so they're harder to isolate. (I know there's creeping charlie underneath, it's everywhere as well) 3.) Also popping up in the cleared woody shady area. They're a little bit fuzzy, and pop off really easily without revealing their root structure, otherwise I'd try to tell you. 4.) Found in all the corners where lots of other plants are, including sheltering poison ivy amongst it. At first I thought it was wintercreeper, and I should keep it in the sloped areas, but if it has no value (I saw a post where a similar looking plant was called vinca minor), I don't want to keep it and allow it to keep hiding poison ivy! 5.) Found up against several structures. If it hadn't just flowered I would've yanked it. Thanks!
#2 is a type of Viola, or Violet. #4 is Common Periwinkle, or Vinca minor. Whether #2 and #4 are weeds is a personal choice. Many plant Vinca as a ground cover, while others consider it as a weed. Same goes for Viola. #3 looks like a Maple sapling.
Thanks! Well, I feel better about having all those known as violets, since they are difficult to remove, at least they could be pretty. I'm still on the fence about the... "creeping myrtle"? Whether or not it stays may have to be case by case. We actually have a lot of maple saplings, and #3 is something else. The maple saplings have woody roots that come out when you pull on them, and the leaves aren't fuzzy.
Yep, I can see the fuzz on the stems. #3 is probably a Viburnum? There are more than one species with maple-like leaves. I'm not familiar with Viburnums and so I'm unable to be more specific than that.
1. Phytolacca americana I believe. 5. Comelina, aka Dayflower. Need to see the stem of 3. Leaf arrangement can be key to identification.
Thanks. All weeds, as suspected, so far. Pokeweed is the name of my enemy! Anyway, I'll try and let one of the #3 plants grow up a bit larger so I can provide more info.
Both viburnum leaves and maple leaves grow in opposite pairs. Before there are flowers, what would be the thing to look for? Breegold, I think you're doing well to be paying attention to things like the root structure. Here's a photo of Viburnum aceifolium, which seems to be in the running. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viburnum_acerifolium.jpg
Wow, that could be pretty! Though still considered invasive and a weed by some. Maybe I'll let one grow to adulthood and see.
