Weed

Weeds are growths that resemble small clumps of long grass and appear in every game in the. Until, weeds were negative environmental factors that the player had to remove to improve their environment rating. In, weed mechanics have changed to be less damaging to the player's island evaluation, and are used in various crafting recipes.

Until
New weeds appear in the player's town each day (two in and  and three in prior games). If the game is not played for a long time, the town will be overrun with weeds. Weeds can simply be pulled by picking them up like an item. In and, Wisp can be asked to immediately remove all weeds in town as a reward for assisting him. In, Leif offers a weed-pulling service once the Garden Shop has been built. Additionally, enacting the Beautiful Town ordinance will significantly reduce the rate at which weeds spawn, preventing most of them from appearing in the first place. In, there is no assistance available for removing weeds and the player will have to pull them all themselves.

There is no requirement to pull weeds, but they are unsightly and have a strong adverse affect on the town's environment. Achieving the lowest possible environment rating can result in the appearance of a rafflesia, a large, red flower which attracts flies. Weeds can also negatively impact the chances of breeding flowers, as they will occupy available space in which new flowers could otherwise be generated in.

Clovers are another type of weed appearing from -onwards, which appears as four clover plants which appear two by two in one grid. Clovers can be pulled much like regular weeds, however there is a rare chance to instead find a four-leaf clover. A four-leaf clover is a lucky item which can be displayed in a house as a book with a clover stuck to a page, or alternatively worn as headgear in the player's hair.

In
In, weeds now come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and take on a completely different appearance with each season. The deserted island is initially covered with many weeds, and one new weed will appear each day. The Mystery Islands are also covered in weeds and serves as a useful source for them if the player has pulled all the weeds on their own island.

Once pulled or dug up, go into the players inventory where they can be sold, used as crafting materials for DIY projects such as medicine, or planted in the ground again. A planted weed will always be small and will slowly grow over time, being watered by a watering can or rain will increase the rate at which they grow. If there is 31 or more weeds present, only one weed will appear once per day, and if there are 150 or more weeds present in the town, no further weeds will spawn and all existing weeds will stop growing. Using the Beautiful Island ordinance will cut the weed spreading rates in half.

The Greedy Weeder Nook Miles challenge awards stamps for selling large quantities of weeds at Nook's Cranny.