The purpose of this guide is to help you identify common weeds that you may find in your gardens with a particular focus on juvenile or spring emergence of the plant. It is much easier to pull these weeds when they are young or just emerging in Spring, so with my pictures you should be able to ID them and eradicate them before they get large and flower! Use this as a compliment to our guide to native plant seedling/emerging identification guide.
*Note – a few of the plants on this list are native, and therefore not ‘invasive’. However, most people would not plant these in formal flowerbeds, and would likely consider them weeds. Thus, they are included on this list for identification.
Common Name | Scientific Name | Juvenile or Spring Emergence | Fully mature plant |
Beggars Lice* | Hackelia virginiana | ![]() | ![]() |
Bladder campion | Silene latifolia | ![]() | ![]() |
Callery or Bradford Pear (seedling) | Pyrus calleryana | ![]() | ![]() |
Celandine, Greater | Chelidonium majus | ![]() | ![]() |
Celandine, Lesser | Ficaria verna | ![]() | ![]() |
Chickweed | Stellaria media | ![]() | ![]() |
Clover, white | Trifolium repens | ![]() ![]() | ![]() |
Creeping Charlie | Glechoma hederacea | ![]() | ![]() |
Creeping thistle | Cirsium arvense | ![]() | ![]() |
Dames Rocket | Hesperis matronalis | ![]() | ![]() |
Dandelion | Taraxacum sp. | ![]() | ![]() |
Dead Nettle, Henbit | Lamium amplexicaule | ![]() | ![]() |
Dead Nettle, Purple | Lamium purpureum | ![]() | ![]() |
Dwarf Plantain, Virginia Plantain | Plantago virginica* | ![]() | ![]() |
Fleabane* | Erigeron annuus | ![]() | ![]() |
Garlic Mustard | Alliaria petiolata | ![]() | ![]() |
Groundsel | Senecio vulgaris | ![]() | ![]() |
Hairy Bittercress | Cardamine hirsuta | ![]() | ![]() |
Hemlock, Poison | Conium maculatum | ![]() | ![]() |
Horseweed* | Erigeron canadensis | ![]() | ![]() |
Narrow-leaf Bittercress | Cardamine impatiens | ![]() | ![]() |
Purslane | Portulaca oreracea | ![]() | ![]() |
Speedwell | Veronica sp. | ![]() | ![]() |
Spurge | Euphorbia helioscopa | ![]() | ![]() |
Yellow wood sorrel | Oxalis dillenii* | ![]() | ![]() ![]() |
Strawberry, Mock | Potentilla indica | ![]() ![]() | ![]() |
Yellowrocket | Barbarea vulgaris | ![]() | ![]() |
White Avens* | Geum canadense | ![]() | ![]() |
Wild Parsnip | Pastinaca sativa | ![]() | ![]() |
Find more invasive plants
Recent Posts
A common problem gardeners face is how to stop deer and rabbits from eating their plants. In fact I would venture to say everyone has experienced this at some point! Whether it is deer eating...
Red Clover is a biennial or short-lived perennial wildflower present in North America. Scientifically known as Trifolium pratense, it blooms pink hemispherical flowerheads in Spring and Summer for...