Why Do My Weeds Keep Coming Back?

If you love spending time in your garden, caring for your lawn, plants and wildlife, you'll know that one of the hardest and maybe most annoying jobs that you have to do is control your weeds. Some stay away once removed but some may keep coming back. 

If you find yourself constantly removing the same weeds that just keep coming back, then this blog is for you! Here, we take a look at why some weeds continue to grow after you've removed them and what you need to do to ensure they stay away, forever!

Know your weeds

The best way to understand why certain weeds keep coming back is to learn which type of weed you're dealing with in the first place. By doing this, you'll be able to put the right plan into action that ensures these pesky plants are gone for good. The three types of weed are:

• Annual weeds - These weeds germinate, grow, mature, produce seeds and die in the space of one year or less and are the easiest type of weed to control at their seedling stage. 

• Biennial weeds - Biennials complete their entire growth within a two year period. During the first year, these weeds produce leaves and store food. During the second year, they produce fruits and seeds. 

• Perennial weeds - These are the weeds that live for two or more years and are the most difficult to control as they are able to spread without producing seeds.

Why weeds keep coming back 

Now that we understand the different types of weeds, we can do take a look at why some of these continue to grow back even though we remove them. 

There are several reasons for this, which include the following. 

Incorrect weed removal 

Sometimes the cause of constant weed growth is simply down to the fact that the weeds you are removing aren't being removed properly. Some come out easily by hand but others may leave bits of root behind and it's these roots that allow weeds to keep coming back. 

Other weeds spread seeds around your garden after you've plucked them from the ground, so you're never aware of the fact that you are responsible for the constant weed growth! 

READ MORE: How to Prevent Weeds Growing

Cross-contamination 

Another reason why your weeds keep coming back is down to cross-contamination where new seeds are brought in as you try to eradicate older weeds or as you simply move around your garden. As we said above, some weeds can spread their seeds even after you have plucked them, so can easily be picked up and moved around simply by walking.

Another form of cross-contamination exists through the addition of new topsoil for your lawn. Any new soil brought into your garden may contain weed seeds that establish once your new soil is added. To avoid this, ensure that any planting medium that you bring in is certified weed-free; otherwise, you risk dumping a bunch of new weed seeds into your yard along with the soil.

External factors 

The final reason why weeds can continue to keep growing in your garden is simply down factors that are out of your control such as the weather and animals. 

A lot of weed seeds are spread from location to location via animals such as squirrels and birds. These will target your weeds for their fruits and inadvertently will pick up the seeds which sometimes get dropped as they travel. 

Strong winds can also cause weed seeds to travel from place to place.

How to stop weeds from coming back

When it comes to preventing reoccurring weed growth, there are several things that you should do. These include:

• Keeping taller grass to limit weed seeds reaching your soil and establishing in your lawn 
• Care for your plants as usual to promote a healthy garden that can fight off weeds 
• Keep your plants well-watered as weeds thrive in dry soil
• Avoid disturbing your soil and waking up 'sleeping' weed seeds
• Plant your plants close together to limit the space for weed roots to grow 
• Establish a regular weeding routing to keep weeds at bay

So, if you find yourself asking "why do my weeds keep coming back?", now you know why! 

We understand that it does take time and effort to ensure weeds are properly removed from your garden, but if you don't have the resources to do it properly, you don't have to! The team here at Taylor Total Weed Control are on-hand to help out with all of your de-weeding needs. Simply click the button below to learn more about how we can help you.

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