RHS What's That Weed?: Know Your Weeds and Learn to Live with Them

by Guy Barter

Learn all about common weeds and how they affect your garden to make informed decisions about the plants you want in your patch - and how to manage those that you don't.

Figuring out which weed is which can be tricky for new and seasoned gardeners alike. In this book, garden expert Guy Barter lifts the lid on how weeds grow and in what conditions. Discover each weed's benefit to wildlife, biodiversity, and its role in the environment - plus whether it has ornamental, herbal, or edible properties that you might want to make the most of.

This identification guide covers 40 weeds commonly found in gardens in Europe and North America. Alongside well-known weeds such as nettles, dock, dandelions, and bindweed, you'll find hawksbeard, pearlwort, ivy-leaved speedwell, and pennycress.


In this book, you will

-Detailed photographs and diagrams of each element of the plant, from roots to leaves

-Specific tools to help you recognise weeds throughout their entire life cycles, from starting out as seedlings before growing into mature flowers.

-The best way to manage each weed and curate the perfect plants for your patch.

-Each weed's place within the ecosystem is listed, along with benefits, such as use as an ornamental, herbal, or edible plant

-Every element of the 40 weeds along each stage of their life cycle, enabling clear identification for gardeners.


With this guide, you can identify plants and understand more about weeds and roots and their benefits.

The perfect title for seasoned gardeners who are looking to identify, manage, and control the weeds in their gardens or new gardeners who are keen to learn about and identify the existing plants in their gardens.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Plants

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 7, 2024

Reviews

[Sue Bottino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative. Especially entertaining to learn about where the names and nicknames of plants come from. I liked the author's approach to explaining pros and cons of having different plants in your yard. The photos of the plants in various stages is very helpful for identification.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on weeds. It covered a lot of the weeds that I see in our garden. Good pictures

[Amanda Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful and clearly laid out.

[Andi Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stars are for layout and design, and even then, the double page spreads here and there of just weeds in the natural landscape would be better used for additional weeds that aren’t listed. It’s too small a book to be comprehensive. If I had only this book, looking at my yard, there are three or four weeds I still wouldn’t be able to identify.

Edit: This is from the RHS, or Royal Horticultural Society in the UK. Where their logo would be, we in the US have a DK logo on the cover instead. Much less useful than a book specific to the US and its regions. This is a pass.

[Louise Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really useful guide to the weeds we have in our garden, and for the benefits of leaving some for the wildlife