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and produce thousands of plants in its short lifetime, quickly spreading through the garden. Pineapple weed will spread and root in any open ground - even in compacted earth and paths - competing with plants for nutrients and space.Hand weed or hoe out

Paving and gravel paths can quickly become colonised by garden weeds. Follow our tips on keeping your paths pristine and weed free, below. While some plants, such as thyme and alpines, look delightful growing in the gaps between patio slabs or path

Monty Don explains the benefits of hand weeding, demonstrating how to keep unwanted weeds at bay.all year round, particularly springMore advice on dealing with weedsHow to hoe effectivelyMaintaining a healthy lawnDealing with brambles

Any unwanted plant, or a plant that hinders the growth of more desirable plants.

in from surrounding gardens, fields and waste ground.A bushy weed that bears small yellow flowers and fluffy seedheads. Its leaves often have orange-brown pustules of rust fungus in summer and autumn, which can spread to cultivated plants. Pull out young

Chickweed, Stellaria media, is best thought of as a delicious rather than a pernicious weed. Its young leaves are packed with vitamins, so it makes a healthy addition to salads. However, it can also harbour greenfly and spider mite, so remove

Willowherb, or fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium, is a pretty plant that looks at home in a wild garden, but will take over any domestic garden, spreading by seed and tough underground roots. Left unchecked, it will invade the space of other plants

. Couch also produces flowerheads that are followed by seeds, allowing the further spread of this weed.Couch grass spreads easily to form dense mats of underground stems. It grows among cultivated plants, competing for water and nutrients and reducing crop

. freshly-cultivated ground, established borders, undisturbed ground, old walls, cracks in paving spring, summer, autumn, winterMore advice on removing weedsPineapple weedField bindweedCreeping thistleJapanese knotweed

Dock, Rumex crispus, appears in the garden in large spreading groups, and is characterised by coarse, battered leaves. It spreads via seed produced by tiny brownish-green flowers, which appear in abundance in summer and are loved by seed