ill weeds are apeace gefällt mir nicht so...

bad grass never dies

heißt die Redewendung auf Englisch

Oxford Duden

"Ill weeds grow apace" (note spelling) exists as a somewhat dated expression.
"Bad weeds never die" have never heard this before.

Support byrdy's suggestion, or as an alternative:

"it would take more than that to finish me/him etc off!"

"You couldn't kill him (or her) with an axe" - etwas umgangsprachliches aus Australien :-)

Only the good die young.

Not exactly a translation, but perhaps it expresses the same sentiment?

But I must admit: Personally, I've never heard this saying...

Old Brit. saying

...as my mother always used to say.

Ich hole diesen Faden absichtlich wieder hervor, weil er für mich noch Fragen offen lässt:"It would take more than that to finish me/him etc off!"Wird das üblicherweise verwendet? Es hört sich für mich schon sehr heftig an. Aber die anderen Übersetzungen scheint niemand wirklich gut zu kennen.

If in Germany "Unkraut vergeht nicht" is used on a person, imho it means that this person is hard to get rid off or always come back again.
To translate this into a person is "hard to kill/finish" seems a little to tough to me.

From all suggestions yet, I prefer "the wicked never die young".

But I keep wondering, if the meaning of "Unkraut vergeht nicht" can't be translated without "kill/finish/die" in a more polite/softer way.

Unkraut vergeht nicht

is new to me

- could "The Devil looks after his own" fit?

i.e. the wicked are perennial


What do you think B.L.Z.Bubb?

Da geht's weiter : related discussion: Unkraut vergeht nicht