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Creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense, is a pernicious weed that will quickly take over your garden unless kept in check. Winter is the only time of year that offers a reprieve, but for the rest of the year the best way to tackle it is to dig it out

The silver and dark-green ivory thistles provide the backdrop for this planting scheme, while the pheasant's tail grass adds soft texture. Scattered amongst the display are Sisyrinchium striatum plants, with striped leaves that are accompanied

, finding a fasciated marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre, somewhere in the flood plain of the River Cuckmere, near Alfriston, Sussex, when I was aged 12 or 13. I thought I had found some exciting new plant, or strange metamorphic phenomenon. I was amazed how

as such interesting fauna, lots of plants have appeared in my garden since I transformed it from a courtyard. Some of them, such as the spear thistle and creeping thistle, are less welcome than others, but I can't get rid of them now – they've been decorated

. freshly-cultivated ground, established borders, undisturbed ground, old walls, cracks in paving spring, summer, autumn, winterMore advice on removing weedsPineapple weedField bindweedCreeping thistleJapanese knotweed

-flowered dahlias, no matter how good they look in our borders. Bees like clover, dead nettle, bird's foot trefoil and thistles. I like most 'weeds' and am looking forward to my new lawn being colonised by trefoil and dandelions. I'm growing teasel, red clover

in the region of 50 to 55 mm.In insects, small size is sometimes attributed to poor nutrition during the larval stage. Since painted lady caterpillars feed on thistles, food shortage seems unlikely...unless, perhaps, the recent poor weather meant that its

. Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) and speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) were first, and this past weekend saw the arrival of several pairs of gatekeepers (Pyronia tithonus). Even as I write, there are some fluttering around the marjoram, globe thistle

organic as I do have glyphosate (for paths and serious weeds) and a miraculous weedkiller that kills nettles and thistles while leaving grass unscathed - but that's about it. I find pesticides pretty unnecessary as I have only two insect problems: woolly

elsewhere. Growing nectar-rich plants is a good way to entice them in, but they won't nest in your flower beds. Butterflies lay eggs in long grass, nettles and thistles (depending on the species), while bumblebees prefer undisturbed messy areas