Daffs are definitely cheering up the computer room today - and it's sunny here!



[cotitsalv]

Oh dear. An inspection of the garden reveals that the weeds are aiming for world domination and the ivy isn`t far behind. Only myself to blame though They aren`t triffid-like weeds, more the sneaky creeping sort and they are creeping all over the grass. I am obviously going to have to invest in some grass seed but first I must tackle the weeds. Can anyone suggest a weedkiller that won`t bugler up the ground for when I sow the grass and that won`t be harmful to the frogs, hedgehogs etc?

Mary,  Apply sodium chlorate weedkiller (I get my supply from Homebase) with a mix of water for a most effective remedy.    Keep it well clear of other plants.

Sounds like me, Anty, except my soil isn't clay. Another weed I have lots of is wood avens/Herb Bennet. To my amazement the local Wild Flower Centre sells this stuff. I felt like putting up a little notice - "Come to my garden and help yourself to unlimited quantities for FREE".



Up to a point I like weeds - they are only wild flowers after all, but they are a bit out of hand. Thanks for the tip, Stanley. Like Anty, I try to avoid chemicals, but I do use Pathclear - if I didn't the paths would be a jungle as well - so I may take your advice!

At the risk of sounding dense (not for the first time  ) if I were to use either of the two weedkillers suggested here, am I likely to make the soil an inhospitable place for sewing grass seed after I have dealt with the weeds? Bearing in mind that Stanley said to keep his solution away from plants ....

Mary, wood avens are extremely plentiful in the gardens around here and I would actually be quite happy to see them in mine. But no, they don`t come near

One weed which is always welcome is the Welsh Poppy. It sows itself in the cracks in the paving of the front garden where it thrives. I have both yellow and orange and never tire of seeing them. It wouldn't like the heavy clay in the rest of the garden.

Beautiful Spring flowers, Tommo. That middle row of pix looks as though you have a very interestingly shaped garden!

Does anyone here have a black bamboo? (Striped black stem and fine leaves.) Last year, the variety I have flowered, which is a rare, world-wide phenomenom. Of course, after flowering, a bamboo dies but I'm keeping mine just in case some of the roots have survived. I've spotted one single tiny green leaf amongst all the dead leaves and flower stems so there's some hope. Growing new plants from seed is apparently very difficult.

Lucky you pw,they haven't flowered! They're a different variety as they have larger leaves than mine. My dad's black bamboos down in South Devon all flowered and look very dead which is really annoying as he'd grown them all from pieces from a plant he divided ages ago and nurtured them for many years (mine's one of these) and had used dozens of them as a long boundary "hedge" between his and the neighbour's garden. He's consulted gardeners in gardens such as Heligan and all their black bamboos have flowered too, as have the same variety all over the world. It's disastrous for those animals who feed solely on this variety. Some bamboos don't flower for 80-100 years then suddenly they do, all over the world all at once.