Identifying garden weeds and mistletoe

What weed is that in your yard, anyway? Here's a handy list to help you know your thistle from your crabgrass.

Bindweed

• Type: Perennial vine
• Description: Pointed leaves; twines on plants

Canada thistle

• Type: Perennial
• Description: Lobed, spiny leaves; wide-spreading roots

Chickweed

• Type: Annual
• Description: Floppy stems and leaves; blankets the ground

Crabgrass

• Type: Annual
• Description: Coarse-textured grass; invades lawns

Dandelion

• Type: Perennial
• Description: Toothed leaves; yellow blooms; in lawns

Ground ivy

• Type: Perennial
• Description: Lobed, mint-like leaves; creeping habit

Nutsedge

• Type: Perennial
• Description: Grass-like leaves; triangular stems

Plantain

• Type: Perennial
• Description: Broad, round leaves; hugs the ground

Poison ivy

• Type: Perennial vine
• Description: Three-lobed, glossy leaves

Purslane

• Type: Annual
• Description: Succulent leaves; purple stems; forms mat

Christmas wouldn't be complete without mistletoe, but this native plant is also an invasive parasite that sucks the sap from its host tree and adds extra weight to the branches.

Most trees can tolerate small colonies of mistletoe, which seldom grows so well that it threatens the life of the tree.

• If you want to get rid of it, pull or cut out each colony, which is easier said than done.

If you actually want to cultivate mistletoe, select a host tree that's at least 20 years old.

• Collect ripe white berries from mistletoe already growing on another tree of the same variety.
• Smash the berries on the underside of a branch 1.5 metres off the ground and about 15 centimetres in diameter. The sticky pulp will harden and help seeds adhere to the bark.
• After seeds have germinated, they will sprout and eventually invade the host tree.

Even if you buy just a few sprigs of mistletoe, be careful.

• Its stems, leaves and berries are poisonous and should be considered dangerous — keep it away from children by hanging it in a high place, such as from a doorjamb or ceiling.