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would normally be permitted. Instead of a close-mown lawn I have ended up with a much softer, rather shaggy sort of arrangement. Different grasses, flowering weeds and even a small spinney of suckering Coyote willow (Salix exigua - which, while we

it looks like. (We've had it where I work - very nasty - have to avoid growing onions and all alliums for years!I know that onion beds need to be kept weeded in summer or the onions become stressed and bolt, producing a flower spike that saps all

, tomatoes, beans and peas. Ornamental plants, especially roses and delphiniums, are also affected. This abnormal growth has been attributed to a weedkiller, which is widely used by farmers on grassland to kill broad-leafed weeds, such as chickweeed, fat hen

to disregard nettles as a useless (and delinquent) weed, as they can be very useful. Nettles make strong rope and tough cloth; up until the First World War the Germans harvested tonnes of nettles and made them into military uniforms (the sting is neutralised

on them accidentally and even squished them with my hands when weeding (truly revolting). It makes me shudder to think about it!I've given up on my slug pub (a dish of beer I used to lure them to their death) - it doesn't seem to pull in the crowds in wet

revived, enthusiasm has soared and the plot is looking rather good. I've done an awful lot of clearing and weeding and now I've started digging over the raised beds. Garlic, broad bean and autumn onion set planting is only weeks away, so I thought I might

to use wire or plastic netting stretched horizontally and supported by posts about 60cm high. The plants then grow through the netting. All very well, provided that you don't need to do much weeding - preparation is all. However, gardeners are nothing

. Not one weed sprouts anywhere. As I sit and watch all the passers-by, my ears gradually become accustomed to the general hubbub and I slowly realize that, in fact, there are plenty of rustlings and twitterings from the denser growths.There are sparrows

of miniaturized people, buildings and landscape, they seem overly large, but this is just an optical illusion.There is a stark contrast between the Model Village garden and my own. The former is intensively managed - weeded, clipped, tidied, mulched and tilled

and weeds. Rosebay willowherb, tangles of flowering bindweed, brambles and bright-yellow ragwort. Profligate trees like ash and, in particular, sycamore crop up and create shady areas with the wrong sort of leaves that cause train operators so much trouble