I agree with mulching. I worry about extending my garden beds due to the wild violets. We managed to pull the bulk out of the front bed, but it took an entire summer. My in-laws were visiting and bored during the day so would go out and dig down to the roots. They are persistent buggers! I have followed up this year by putting a second layer of thick mulch and taking any foliage off in order to starve the roots. Beside the stray leaf and weeding a lot before the mulch was put down, I have barely needed to weed. Whatever does grow through is weakened by having to push through the mulch. My lawn is almost 100% weeds dispite reseeding every Spring and Fall. I am planning on reseeding the lawn soon for the fall and then placing the feed pellets as an organic preemergent in the Spring. Might help with the garden, too if the lawn stops being one huge weed.... :)

I think that's it - I googled and found an image at MoBot that looks identical (linked below this message). The thing is, I don't remember it flowering last year, and it has no buds on it of any kind right now, although the MoBot page says bloom time is April-May. Could there be a non-blooming version or perhaps it needs more sun to bloom? Now kicking myself for spending all that $$ on english ivy starts when I could have just waited a year for this stuff to take over ; ) thanks - tesla here it is in my side yard on this gray Kansas afternoon... Here is a link that might be useful: not a weed!

or could be Creeping Bellflower....Campunula rapunculoides. Either way you'll know which if you allow it too flower. Campunula punctata has large ornamental bell flowers that hang down and C. rapunculoides has upright spikes of smaller bellflowers and roots creep to send up more plants. Really a pest when it gets into lawns. Here the google image results for Creeping Bellflower....do the same for Campunula punctata Vera Here is a link that might be useful: Google Images....Creeping Bellflower

I've always been pretty good at IDing weeds, having grown up on a farm and hoed just about all of them out of bean fields at one time or another! Here's what I think: Big Weed 1 - we always called Wild Lettuce - there may be a more scientific name for it. It roots clear to China and is harder than heck to pull when it gets that large. Big Weed 2 - I think is a tree Big Weed 3 - may be a ragweed, or may be dog fennel. Both have a very distinctive smell when you crush the leaf. Too bad you can't get that to me over the Internet. Then I'd know for sure! Big Weed 4 - definietly velvetleaf (also known as buttonweed) Big Weed 5 - not a tiger lily - definitely a weed - don't know what it is but I've got them too. Big Weed 6 - I think is a tree Big Weed 7 - Couldn't really tell from the picture Big Weed 8 - a mulberry tree seedling Little Weed 1 - I think is a tree Little Weed 2 - walnut seedling Little Weed 3 - Nightshade Little Weed 4 - Smartweed (because if you pull them and then rub your eyes or nose, they will burn - or 'smart' - like crazy) Little Weed 5 - couldn't really tell Little Weed 6 - we always called wild morning glory - it has another name, but that escapes me at the moment Little weed 7 - looks to me like a lamb's quarter that has the blight that they get sometimes Little weed 8 - I don't know what they are - I just started seeing them in my yard, too. I'm thinking they have come from bird seed sometime. Very shallow-rooted, even when large. Little weed 9 - same as Big Weed 5 - the tiger lily looking one Little weed 10 - I think is a tree Medium Weed 2 - smartweed Medium Weeds 3 and 4 - walnut trees Medium Weeds - an elm and a mulberry Here's a tip to help get rid of the tree seedlings permanently, especially the mulberries, in case you didn't know it already. When you cut a mulberry, it will just send out a ga-zillion more shoots from the root and become a bush instead of a tree (I think the originator of 'here we go round the mulberry bush' must have done that!). When I cut tree seedlings, I always carry a little baby-food jar of Round-up concentrate with a cotton swab in it. Immediately after cutting the tree, I dab Round-up on the stump. It never sprouts again - problem solved! The lid goes on the baby food jar for next time when the job is done, and the cotton swab gets tossed in the trash.