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Can anyone identify this plant/weed?

SereneStormSereneStorm Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi all,

I am the opposite of green-fingered...black-fingered?

I am very new to gardening. After many years of killing (inadvertently) house plants, I thought I would try and look after my garden (!!).

I have a lot of weeds growing there, which are the common varieties I have identified. However, I can't seem to find what this one is.


Is it a weed or some kind of plant? The main stem is very woody and the offshoot appear to be reddish colour with maple-type leaves.

Any help identifying this and if it's a weed, how to get rid of it, will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much :smile:

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2021
    That looks like a sycamore or possibly a field maple tree seedling … if you look around there’s probably a mature one (or more) in the vicinity). Their seeds spread everywhere. 

    Not what you want in a garden so pull it up/dig it out before it becomes a strapping sapling and you need a rugby team to uproot it. 😉 

    Look for other seedlings each spring and pull them out. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Could be a Guelder Rose, Viburnum opulus.  A good shrub for wildlife with pretty white flowers followed by red berries and autumn colour. It can get very large, but can be pruned if need be.
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    Whatever it is it won’t grow there properly. Pull it up and if you like pot it on and see if you want to keep it ,or not. It’s not in a good growing place ,your photo shows it to be in concrete or some such. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Buttercupdays said:
    Could be a Guelder Rose, Viburnum opulus.  A good shrub for wildlife with pretty white flowers followed by red berries and autumn colour. It can get very large, but can be pruned if need be.
    I’m not exactly sure but I think that plant is sterile.   Although if there’s  one very close by it could have rooted off the main plant. 
    I think it’s probably a sycamore , used to get them here but had the old tree felled. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    The ground might look dry and inhospitable, but if it is a maple, it wouldn't mind at all.

    Probably not ideal to leave it though, unless the OP has a lot of space.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    @Lyn I've got a huge shrub and there's a young sapling quite some distance away, that I assume was bird-planted. Hasn't happened often though, not like elder, blackcurrants, hazel, rowan. And Cotoneasters in their dozens!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I was just admiring my two 'bird enabled' rowans today @Buttercupdays. The one right on the boundary fence has loads of berries, all nicely orange-ing up. The other is planted in a border - moved earlier this year from behind the shed. 
    Hawthorn too, along the back boundary near the rowan. Saves me planting any hedge there  ;)
    Cotoneasters are everywhere in the gravel.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • SereneStormSereneStorm Posts: 2
    Thank you all so much. It has definitely given me a lot to think about and I think I will do as you guys have advised, plant it in a pot and see what comes of it!

    It was definitely a great decision coming to this forum! I will learn lots from everyone for sure.

    Thanks again everyone.

    I will add pics and updates here. Can we do that or is that a faux pas?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    No, we love updates.  Don't hesitate to ask more questions as needed.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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