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already started to grow around other plants, untwine it, lay it on bare ground and then spray it. Avoid using the weedkiller on a windy day and near desirable plants. all over the gardenearly spring to autumnMore advice on removing weedsGround elder

't appreciate is that bindweed has a mission … to invade, occupy, and overtake! Bindweed may look lovely in the countryside, but it's not a garden plant to be encouraged. And just for the record, the No.1 weed in Scotland is ground elder (with bindweed in 4th

cultivated ground, compost in pots, paving, walls, vegetable plotsall year roundMore advice on removing weedsPineapple weedCleaversDandelionGround elder

perennials such as couch grass or ground elder.Cover your bin with carpet to keep it warm and to help speed up the composting process.Improving the quality of your soilVideo guide on making compost, with Chris BeardshawImproving your soil with green manure

into nightmare country. Other plants that I think are dreadful include Rosa Masquerade (rather like an eruption in a fruit salad factory), almost all ruffled Iris, Heuchera Caramel (repellent flaccid toffee coloured leaves), variegated ground elder (a con

Prune out old stems of elder (Sambucus)Cut back last year's buddleia stems to ground levelHard prune trees that respond to pollardingFlowersPlant onion sets in modular trays of compostRepair netting on fruit cagesContinue forcing sea kale and chicory

to trace, although the little leaves are vicious stingers.The Grandes Dames of the weed world in my garden, however, are bindweed and couch grass (I thank all divine beings that we have no ground elder in this garden). The former, in addition to its

it comes to vegetables I am on far less stable ground. It is my wife who holds sway over the kitchen garden and who dictates what, why and when: I just do what I am told. But I have been reading quite a lot recently about forest gardens and it is here

to cut everything to the ground and apply a generous mulch to feed the soil. Not being desperate to make extra work for myself (and being of an age when my back can be temperamental - unsurprising if you consider the amount of abuse it had to undergo when

Stretch the seasonAs one crop comes to an end have the next batch of young plants in pots, ready to take their place. Just clear the row and refresh the ground with organic matter and fertiliser.Don't leave land vacantThink vertically – grow climbing crops