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I don’t like waste, so digging dandelions from the lawn last week got me thinking about the value of weeds. Dandelions are hardly the master of disguise, revealing their position in the lawn with brilliant yellow flowers. I used a long-bladed, old

It's been difficult to choose my 2009 weed of the year. Butercups and daisies continue to compete with grass in my lawn, as do those lovely rosettes of plantain. Then there are the dandelions. Oh dear, this isn't making my lawn sound very good is it

We recently asked Gardeners' World website and magazine readers around the UK to nominate their worst weed. One weed, it seems, crops up everywhere, topping the list in many regions: bindweed. (Readers in Scotland and northern England gave 'pride

for the best offers on peat-free compost and mulch with that.Then there's weed control. That thick mulch provides a perfect overcoat for borders to prevent annual weed seeds germinating, but it has to be a good 7cm or more deep to be effective. Too thin

. Again, they don't really have any flavour I could detect, but are fun to add to salads.And don't forget your weeds either. Dandelion flowers have a very distinct flavour. They're quite sweet when picked just as they open, and their golden petals go

.Types to sow now include crimson clover, fenugreek, field lupins - even broad beans. They germinate and grow quickly and reduce weed growth. Flowering varieties even attract bees and beneficial insects.Nothing could be simpler, and the green manures help break

, weed and moss killer were in order. Out came the lawn applicator, into the hopper went the granular product, and off I went ... wheeling the applicator up and down the lawn as the photographer snapped away.I was so enthusiastic to get going that I set

this may often be a weed, you never know what might pop up.And this is where self-seeders - flowers you love, and deliberately let go to seed - come into their own. By resisting the temptation to snip off every faded flower in sight you give some flowers a

'. The patch of phlox spreads ever wider; topiary does its best to undo my finest manicuring; weeds and other 'self-seeders' fill any space they can find...Note for diary, early June 2010: clip back golden hop before it smothers its neighbours!

of compost I knew they would be weed-free (and still are after 15 years), and would provide perfect planting conditions.Lastly comes a camellia growing in a large terracotta pot, again filled with ericaceous compost. Despite using the perfect compost I still