Weed control is a type of pest control, which attempts to stop or reduce growth of weeds, especially noxious weeds, with the aim of reducing their competition with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in natural settings preventing non native species competing with native species.
A field of beets being weeded in Colorado, United States, in 1972
Tools used for amateur weeding include spades and gloves
Weeds are removed manually in large parts of India.
Weed control through tilling with hoes, circa 1930-40s
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals. Plants with characteristics that make them hazardous, aesthetically unappealing, difficult to control in managed environments, or otherwise unwanted in farm land, orchards, gardens, lawns, parks, recreational spaces, residential and industrial areas, may all be considered weeds. The concept of weeds is particularly significant in agriculture, where the presence of weeds in fields used to grow crops may cause major losses in yields. Invasive species, plants introduced to an environment where their presence negatively impacts the overall functioning and biodiversity of the ecosystem, may also sometimes be considered weeds.
Weeds growing in the cracks of a concrete staircase (Epilobium roseum, Chelidonium majus, Oxalis corniculata, Plantago major)
A dandelion is a common plant all over the world, especially in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It is considered a weed in some contexts (such as lawns) but not others (such as when it is grown as a vegetable or herbal medicine).
Invasive Canada Goldenrod as a roadside weed in Poland
Australia, 1907: Cattlemen survey 700 carcasses of cattle that were killed overnight by a poisonous plant.
