What is a weed? My RHS tutor said simply ‘a weed is a plant in the wrong place’.

A wildflower meadow full of buttercups, poppies and sorrel can look so beautiful but the minute they enter my borders they are the enemy. Most gardens have soil that is full of weeds. The very act of cultivating soil disturbs these annual weeds and then their vigorous growth makes them real troublemakers as they beat choice plants in the competition for water, nutrients and light.

Or, tenacious perennial weeds can really get a hold, even in well kept gardens having to continually fight with these garden thugs can be a most demoralising task as if you break their roots with hoeing and digging without killing them you increasen their infestation!

My Mum tells me when I was young my Dad decided to plough a section of land for her to have as a veg patch, following which she said she had never seen such an amazing display of prize winning thistles!

There are two main ways to get on top with controlling persistent weeds of either type: Prevention: very simply, you can keep weeds at bay by crowding them out with plants. Strong, fast growing plants can cover ground with their leaves and so crowding out annual weed competition and discouraging germination of seeds. Low growing plants make dense carpets. Vegetables such as potatoes clean the soil before other planting.

Otherwise you can cover the ground with mulch such as leaf mould, mushroom compost, bark or gravel. If you have a large area to cover or are starting from scratch with a border or bed then black plastic can be laid and concealed beneath the earth with holes cut in to allow you to plant through.

Controlling: if you never let them flower, they become manageable: a 10-minute frequent ‘weed out’ is more effective than a ‘slog out’ every three weeks. Hoe in dry weather to help prevent germination.

Ensure all parts of the root system are removed of perennial weeds as root parts can regrow. Finally if you have to, although I prefer not to, you could use weed killers, this can be a solution for a new area that you wish to plant that you could treat before anything goes in the ground.

Tip: throw weeds that are on the point of flowering into a bucket of water to rot.

Annual Weeds: these are ok to put on the compost heap: Annual Meadow Grass (Poa Annua); Annual Nettle (Urtica Urens); Chickweed (Stellaria Media) Groundsel (Senecio Vulgaris); Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine Hirsuta); Shepherd's Purse (Capsella BursaPastoris)

Perennial Weeds: avoid putting these on the compost heap: Bindweed (Convolvulus Arvensis); Bramble (Rubus Fruticosus); Celandine (Ranuculus Ficaria); Couch Grass (Elymus Repens); Dock (Rumex Sp.); Ground Elder (Aegopodium Podagraria); Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum Japonicum); Oxalis (Oxalis Corymbosa, Oxalis Latifolia); Perennial Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica); Thistle (Cirsium Arvense); Willow Herb (Epilobium Sp.)