Weeding in the garden or allotment never stops, even in winter. But at this time of year we can ease back a bit, take stock, and run our fingers over the pages of some favourite gardening books, rather than over frozen soil. I like the sound of that. Understanding more about how our gardens tick is the best way of cultivating them in more organic, more eco- and earth-friendly ways. Knowing how the weeds on your patch tick is key to deciding on the best ways of gently reducing their numbers, without the use of polluting weedkillers. Some weeds – think dandelions – offer boundless benefits to al ..read more

The organic gardening charity Garden Organic/GO (formerly the Henry Doubleday Research Association/HDRA) recently put the entire Garden Organic site, including its long-established public demonstration gardens, at Ryton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire, up for sale. This move has come as a shock to many of its members and to other long-time supporters and advocates. In September 2017 GO sent a letter to its members stating ‘…our Board of Trustees has asked Garden Organic’s management team to look at the options for the Ryton site that are in the best interest of the long-term fu ..read more

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum Other names: brushes and combs; Venus’ basin. Life cycle: Biennial The prickly dome-shaped heads are a mass of smaller flowers. Only treat teasel as a ‘weed’ if it interferes with your gardening as it has many positive benefits. In late summer plants reach 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft) tall and are topped with conical heads that are magnets for bees and butterflies, insects drink rainwater collected in the leaf bases, while in autumn and winter goldfinches visit the brown heads for their seeds. Loosen the soil around plants you don’t want and remove as much root as poss ..read more

Chickweed Stellaria media Other names: chickwittle, cluckenweed, mischievous Jack. Life cycle: Annual/ephemeral The tiny white flowers can appear in virtually every season. Dense green clumps of chickweed, up to 30cm (1ft) tall indicate rich, fertile soil, but it will grow virtually anywhere in the garden, including the cracks in paving. The sprawling stems root as they touch the soil, so large clumps can quickly form, although this is an easy weed to simply pull up in great handfuls. These prolific seeders can produce up to 15,000 seeds per plant. Fresh leafy shoots can be added to sal ..read more

Borage Borago officinalis Life cycle: annual/biennial Use the pretty blue flowers to decorate salads or freeze them in ice cubes, or add flowers/young leaves to drinks. Grown as a herb, this prolific self-seeder has escaped in many gardens and should be treated as a weed, except for any plants which you want to allow to develop and flower throughout the summer. Beware though – a fully grown plant can reach 90cm (3ft) tall and wide and soon swamps its neighbours. The bristly-hairy, cucumber-flavoured leaves can irritate skin. An exceptional plant for attracting bees and other insects. Ov ..read more

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale Other names: pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, blow balls Life cycle: perennial Add the wilted, nutrient-rich taproots and flat rosettes to your compost bin or weed bags. Dandelion’s deep taproot must be dug or forked out and older plants, with very deep roots, may need several attempts. However, dandelion doesn’t spread sideways, so I let a few plants produce their bright yellow flowers, on stalks up to 30cm (1ft) tall, as a useful food source for insects in early spring, but I nip the green seedheads off before they turn into ‘clocks’ and release their airborne ..read more

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium Other names: cow parsnip, keck, limberscrimps Life cycle: biennial/perennial The 20cm (8in) wide umbrella-like flowerheads are a magnet for beneficial hoverflies and appear from late spring. Often seen on roadsides, this tough, taprooted weed can be difficult to remove if it gets a foothold in beds or borders. Leafy rosettes of deeply lobed leaves grow first, which then overwinter before producing flowering shoots up to 3m (10ft) tall. Hogweed is ideal for a ‘bug bank’ because insects flock to the flat ‘landing pad’ flowerheads and you can easily cut off the unr ..read more

The April 2017 issue of Which? Gardening magazine brings good news for gardeners, and for our natural world: two out of three of its Best Buy awards for container compost have gone to modern and reliable peat-free compost brands (the other went to an ultra-expensive compost containing 70% peat, whose manufacture contributes directly to the destruction of carbon-storing peatlands). Best Buys stack up for professional-grade SylvaGrow Hot on the heels of three previous Which? Best Buy gongs*, SylvaGrow Multipurpose Compost now adds a fourth Best Buy for con ..read more

* PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN BUY Book Three HERE AND Book Four HERE  * • Pre-ordered copies of Book Three and Book Four will be posted during early to mid December 2016. I am over the moon to announce that the third and fourth books in my series Digging Deep in the Garden, my cage-rattling collections of essays exploring gardening’s place in nature, will be published in autumn 2016 by Earth-friendly Books. If you’ve enjoyed reading Book One and Book Two, these two new collections make perfect ..read more

  AT A TIME WHEN garden weedkillers such as glyphosate (Roundup) are under increasing scrutiny over their environmental safety (its residues are found regularly in our pee and in our bread), and as we learn that less tended, scruffy and ‘weedy’ gardens and forgotten corners offer many wildlife benefits, Weeds is a timely, hands-on guide to tackling unwanted plants in non-polluting ways that are gentler on our natural world. My book is also about understanding the sheer tenacity of weeds, about their determination to survive, and about how you can turn them into allies in your ga ..read more