Would anyone like to ID some plants for me?

[Muststopeating]

1a/b... Had a huge amount of foliage which had died back for winter and this is what was underneath when cleared. No idea what it looks like as was in the middle of a very overgrown/neglected area that I've just cleared.

My mum has something that looks the same sprouting in her garden and she thinks it is lythrum?

2 a/b/c... A very straggly shrub along fence lines that I presume previous owners planted for screening. Would like to know what this is so I can better prune it to get it back to a decent state.

More to come but limited to 5 pics...

They are... Can't think that there was anything so pretty over the years but perhaps my recent top clearance has just allowed them to surface. Fingers crossed.

We have 4 acres and very very few plants of any real interest seem to have emerged in the 5 years we've been here but every now and then you find a hint that someone once loved this garden and took pride in planting it.

My garden is absolutely full of willowherb seedlings at the moment and these look a bit different... The leaves are a lot narrower But are they rosebay willowherb? There are umpteen species of willowherb.

Yes, agreed. I said nitida initially as that was what came to mind, bumped into my pileata while I was weeding and had second thoughts, came back and looked at lots of pictures of the leaves of both, found nitida wasn't always as short and round as I'd remembered and started doubting myself.

My best guess is
1 Campanula - was there a tall plant growing in that spot last year, possibly with blue or pinkish flowers?

2 Lonicera nitida. Often used as hedging, small yellow flowers (out now in the south), attractive to bees. Can be cut back hard to about a foot and will sprout frm the old wood. Needs trimming annually.

3 Lillies. The tall red stem looks like something has eaten the leaves. It won't flower this year if the growing tip has gone. Protect from slug and snails, watch out for lily beetles.

Dont' let the rosebay willowherb seeds blow over the garden!

So I did know there were different species and I thought I'd looked up Rosebay. However, I have now found similar popping up elsewhere and by the sheer quantity of them I think you might be right.

Lillies would have been much more fun! Sigh.

So I have at least two different species of willow herb (shall add it to the list of EVERY other invasive weed we have).

And to the PP who warned about seeds... That ship firmly sailed last year when we had 3 kids under 5. But I am attempting to tackle this year (and every year going forwards) and trying to pull up any I see early on.

Dock, (and their 60,000 seeds per plant that live in the ground for 80 years) thanks to the field behind us last year will have completely taken over and drowned us in a field of dock leaves by the end of the year.

@Jellybean23 I am really not sure what was there last year as that part of the garden was a bit of a jungle. However, the dead material that I cut back would definitely suggest that it had been tall.

There are also a couple of very very tall (unsupported) roses there so I am waiting until they flower to try and figure out what variety they are. We have quite a few around the garden... I think they are probably all the same and likely a climbing or rambling variety. The only one I attempted to prune last year ended up then putting on so much growth that it completely collapsed on itself and looked worse than ever before so I am leaving alone this year until I know what they are so I can prune correctly.

This is 1 now... I'm still none the wiser.

There is a good FB group called Gardening Hints and Tips (UK only) The members are ace at identifying plants.

There is a good FB group called Gardening Hints and Tips (UK only) The members are ace at identifying plants … unlike the people in this group who are utterly hopeless

That’s beginning to look like Solidago (golden rod). Keep going! - not much longer till it flowers.

I promised I'd be back... pictures below are number 1. This is actually it's 2nd flush after I deadheaded it. The initial flush took it to almost 2m tall and it flopped everywhere.

I am reasonably confident that it's campanula lactiflora/milky bellflower, but I am absolutely prepared to be corrected.

Number 2 did nothing exciting but is definitely persistent. I think poor man's box was about right.

Number 3 was probably willow herb, as I've pulled out thousands of the things.

You can chop the lonicera, the second one, right back to 6-12" high and it will burst into new growth. Do it now, and there are still several months of growth left this year. It should bush out nicely, and then you can clip it into whatever shape you want.

Yes definitely, the little leaves are unmistakable ( and so I’d the straggly growth)

Bonbon21 , I agree with you. I was just on my way to the back garden to check it out. I don't think it's a hydrangea.

Hydrangeas arent perennial - they are shrubs. Judging by the woody stems around that first photo it is a hydrangea that has been cut very low down!

Of course you are right... and thus I should have ruled out hydrangea straight away as I knew this hadn't been cut back but rather had died back over winter. I posted photos of it this afternoon and I'm fairly confident it is a campanula.

Thank you. I think for the ones I photographed here I am actually going to dig them out as they are taking up prime real estate without giving much back.

However, I also have lots of them running along a boundary fence. There I think I will cut them right back as you advise and let them fill out properly. I did give them a good trim earlier in the year but I don't think I went hard enough. (And quite frankly I am not going to lose too much sleep if I go too hard and they never grow back).