Army Worm
Dandelion (growing plant)

Insects
Bear Garlic (plant)
Bracken (fonds)
Chamomile Chamaeleum nobile (plant, growing and dried)
Daisy, Lawn (leaf)
Elderberry, Black (leaf)
Nettle, Stinging (tea on plants, dried plant to deter flies)
Tansy
Walnut (leaf)
Yarrow (plant)

Moles
Bear Garlic (plant)

Moths
Bear Garlic (plant)
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (plant)

Insulation
Cattail (dry leaf and stem, female flower)
Reed, Common (plant)

Plaster lath
Blackberry (thorny canes)

Thatch
Bracken (dried plant)
Cattail (leaf)
Reed, Common (plant)

Soap
Plants high in saponins:
Chestnut, Horse

Plants of Goosefoot family

Bracken (root)
Campion species
Ivy Hedera helix - Caution - contact with sap may cause alergic reaction

Shampoo
Bracken (concoction of root)
Chestnut, European (leaf, bark and seed husk)

Skin cleansing lotion
Cinquefoil, Silverweed (plant)

• Root crops store better when grown near Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
• Yarrow repels bad insects and attracts good, may also have healing effect on nearby sick plants

Bear Garlic (plant)
Spoonwort
Thyme species
Oregano species

Black
Oak (galls, with iron salt)
Walnut (ripe seed husk) if iron implement is used

Blue-purple
Elderberry, Black (fruit)

Brown
Bracken (fonds)
Dock (root)
Hop (leaf, flower)
Oak (galls with alum)
Plantain (leaf)
Walnut (leaf, ripe seed husk [no mordant needed])

Green
Blackthorn (leaf)
Dock (root)
Elderberry, Black (leaf with alum)
Nettle, Stinging (leaf, stem)
Reed, Common (flower)
Whortleberry (leaf)

Grey
Dock (root without mordant)
Plantain (root)

Grey-blue
Sorrel species (leaf)

Grey-green
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (leaf, stem)

Magenta-brown
Dandelion (root)

Red
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (root)
Cleavers (root)

Tan
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (leaf, stem)

Variable
Blackberry (fruit)
Raspberry, American Red (fruit) - purple to dull blue
Queen of the Meadow (root) - grey to black brown with copper mordant
Sorrel species (root) - dark green to brown without mordant
Whortleberry (fruit) - blue or black
Yarrow (flower) yellow or green

Yellow
Blackthorn (bark) - boiled in an alkali
Clover, red (flower)
Currant, Cultivated (leaf)
Dock (root)
Jewelweed (plant)
Knotweed, Japanese (root)
Mustard, Garlic (plant)
Nettle, Stinging (root, boiled with alum)
Oak (galls with tin salt)
Queen of the Meadow (leaf)
Walnut (leaf, unripe seed husk [no mordant needed])

Baskets and mats
Cattail (leaf)
Reed, Common (plant)

Cordage
Bindweed, Hedge (stem) - not strong - temporary use
Nettle, Stinging (stem)
Reed, Common (plant)

Paper
Nettle, Stinging (stem)
Raspberry, American Red (stem, after fruiting)
Reed, Common (plant)

Yarn
Hop (stem) - similar to Hemp, but weaker
Nettle, Stinging (stem)

Cleavers (stem)

Alcohol
Reed, Common (plant)

Dry matter
Cattail (leaf)

Lighting
Cattail (oil-soaked pith of stem)
Jewelweed (oil from seed)
Nettle, Stinging (oil from seed)

Chamomile Chamaeleum nobile
Elderberry, Black (leaf)
Garlic

Horsetail species:
Recipe 1 - boil stems for a few minutes, leave for a day, strain, dilute 1:2 with water
Recipe 2 - place 1 kg horsetail in 10 liters of water for 24 hours, boil 15-20 minutes, leave 12 hours, strain, dilute 1:5

Nettle, Stinging
Thyme species

Bracken (root)
Garlic

Walnut (ripe seed husk) - brown

Oak (galls with iron salt)
Whortleberry (berry) - blue or black

General
Elderberry, Black (leaf)
Walnut (leaf)

Mosquito larvae
Shepherd's Purse (seeds thrown in water where they breed)

Help nature and attract beneficial insects to your garden by providing them with shelters.

Use hollow dead and dry stalks. Cut or break into short sections and bundle into a sheltering container with openings on vertical side. Create some shelters with small tubes and some with larger, but avoid bundling different sizes in one shelter to prevent insects of different species mixing. Place at different heights for insects with varying requirements.

Some suitable plants:
Angelica
Fireweed
Knotweed, Japanese

Elderberry, Black (sap of fruit) turns green in alkaline solutions and red in acid solutions

Burdock (stem)
Cattail (leaf, stem)

Search term: Phytoremediation

PCBs in Soil
Nightshade, Deadly - Atropa belladonna (growing plant)
Nightshade, Black - Solanum nigrum (growing plant)

Indoor chemical vapours (formaldehyde, benzene and ammonia)
Crysanthemum (growing plant)
Ivy Hedera helix (growing plant)

A number of plants may be useful in absorbing radioactivity. Grazing animals must be excluded and the biomass carefully disposed of. Hemp Cannabis sativa has been used at Chernobyl and Sunflowers at Fukushima to absorb some of the radiation after the nuclear plant accidents. Other plants which may be used are barley, alfalfa, fennel, sugar beets, spinach, lettuce and mustard. As Hop is a close relative to Hemp it may also be useful.

Nettle, Stinging (seed) - increases egg laying

For cut flowers
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea (infusion of plant in water of flowers)

Vegetables
Currant, Black (leaves) possibly by storing together

Poplar species

Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis scabra
Dandelion (root) - inferior quality
Dandelion, Russian or Rubber, Taraxacum kok-sanghyz (root) - quality comparable to the latex from Rubber Trees
Goldenrods - Solidago species. - latex of leaves - low quality
Sow Thistle Sonchus oleraceus

Linen scent
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (plant)

Potpourri
Bedstraw, Sweet-scented (plant)
Queen of the Meadow (plant)

Pots scourer
paste of ash of hardwoods and water

Plants containing silica:
Glasswort, Slender
Horsetail species

Wood sanding
Horsetail species

Metal polish
Horsetail species
Sorrel species (leaf)

Wood polish
Walnut (seed)

Reed, Common (growing plant)

See also Pollution Cleaner

Braking dense, heavy soil
Dandelion (growing plant)

Compost
Bracken (plant) high in potash
Cattail (leaf, stem)
Dock (plant) roots and seeds must be well macerated in water to prevent spreading of plant
Comfrey (leaf)
Nettle, Stinging
Reed, Common (plant)
Yarrow (plant)

Conditioning
Mustard, Hedge (growing plant) - sweetens acid soil

Desalinate
Shepherd's Purse (growing plant)
possibly other members of the cabbage family, as well as from the goosefoot family

Liquid plant food (plant macerated in water)
Comfrey
Horsetail species
Nettle, Stinging
Quackgrass
Yarrow (plant)

Mulch
Bracken (fonds)

Nitrogen fixing
Clover and other legumes (growing plant)
Alder Alnus glutinosa (growing plant)

Potassium
Bracken (ash of burnt root) - collect in early summer for maximum potash content

Repair
Shepherd's Purse (growing plant)

Plants high in oxalic acid (test first for fabric as juice may leave green stain instead):
Cuckoo pint (plant)
Dock (leaves)
Knotweed, Japanese (leaf, stem)
Wood-sorrel (leaf)

Buoyancy
Cattail (dry leaf and stem)

General
Cattail (female flower)
Fireweed (seed down)

Insulating
Cattail (female flower)

Nappy lining
Cattail (female flower)

Blackthorn (bark)
Chestnut, European (leaf, bark and seed husk)
Oak (leaf, bark, galls);

Durable
Chestnut, European
Oak - heart wood

Furniture
Beech
Birch
Maple species
Walnut

Gun stocks
Walnut

Pea trellis
Filbert, Common (branched stems of first growth - regrowth is often straight)

Turnery, carving
Blackthorn
Maple species

Bracken (dried fibers from root, dry fonds)
Cattail (down of female seed head and pollen from female flower - highly flammable)
Fireweed (seed down)
Thistle species (seed down)

Flutes, blow pipes, casing
Elderberry, Black (branches) contains pith which needs to be hollowed out

Pine species (resin and its distillates)
Spruce species (resin and its distillates)
Walnut (oil form seed) - non-yellowing paint medium

Bracken (fonds) also repel insects and prevent rot
Maple species (leaf)