Weeds are simply plants which are growing in the wrong place.
The seeds they produce can lie dormant in the soil for many years, germinating when it is cultivated, or imported with
'new' topsoil.
As weeds compete with garden plants for space, water , light and nutrients , we must
constantly thwart nature and eradicate them or they will swamp the more delicate specimens
It is important to know the type of weeds that are present, so that they can be dealt with properly. For example, the treatments for Ground-elder or Japanese Knotweed are different to that for Hairy Bittercress .
Weedkillers should be a last resort, but on the occasions they could be used it is important to know which one, and how to apply it.
As you will see if you browse through the monographs on individual weeds, the plants which cause such a nuisance of themselves have many useful attributes as well.
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If they are not having a detrimental effect, then leave them alone as they all form part of the natural balance between flora and fauna, giving us the beauty for which we all strive.
There are some real villains, Vine Weevils being the most notable.
Some alien species have been found recently, and the New Zealand Flatworms are causing havoc to the native earthworm population. The big problem with introduced species is that they are not part of the existing food chain so may not have a natural predator or a disease which kept their numbers under control at home.
One of the best defences against them has been our climate , which killed off most of the creatures accidently carried here on plants or in food imports, but this has been changing recently.
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"When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that its smoothness, on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms. It is a marvellous reflection that the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through the bodies of worms. The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be thus ploughed by earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures." - Charles Darwin
VEGETABLE GROWINGGrowing your own vegetables is becoming more popular.
Not only is it a great, rewarding pastime, the crops are fresh, taste better and the vitamins and other benefits they contain, such as antioxidants , are more potent.
With the current concerns about climate change, any reduction in the journeys taken by our food will reduce the effect we have on the environment.
These 'food miles' all contribute to our carbon footprint, so as well as cutting down on the energy we use directly, growing some vegetables in the garden is another way of doing your bit to combat global warming.
The cut flower market clocks up even greater mileage with about 90% of them imported, so if you like to have a display indoors, set aside a small area to grow some flowers for cutting..... READ MORE ON THE WEBSITE
It used to be said that the thing which distinguished humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is that we use tools , but as we study our fellow creatures, more examples of their use of objects to help with tasks have been discovered. Some birds use stones to crush animal shells, chimpanzees use twigs to extract ants. However when it comes to quantity and variety we beat them hands down.
The variety of garden tools is certainly endless and every year new ones are introduced promising great benefits over anything that has gone before. The Victorians loved their gadgets and in the latter half of the nineteenth century the range of tools increased greatly.
The majority are not what they are claimed to be and after one or two uses end up occupying space in the tool shed, never to see the light of day again. Apart from the most useful tools we possess - our hands - the range of tools needed to tend the average garden is small... READ MORE ON THE WEBSITE
Plants can suffer from bacterial, viral and fungal attack just as we can ourselves. The organisms themselves (pathogens) are different, but at the microbial level the infection is much the same since one cell is as good a host as another. No matter which part of the plant is attacked the effect is usually to weaken or kill it. By infecting the leaves the plant's ability to produce its food is reduced. Some pathogens block the vessels in the stems which supply the leaves and by attacking the roots, the uptake of water and nutrients is reduced or stopped completely.
When a plant is attacked by one of these microorganisms the damage caused provides an opportunity for the others to get in and it is the combined onslaught which deals the final blow. Also if it is under stress, such as through drought or poor nutrition it is more susceptible... READ MORE ON THE WEBSITE
Genetics is the science of heredity. Long before Watson and Crick described the helical structure of DNA, man has been changing the genetic make-up of plants and animals to his advantage. By selectively breeding them over thousands of years, we have altered their characteristics to suit our needs. The food crops eaten to-day have been changed to grow larger, taste better and survive different growing conditions than their wild originals, eg. all of the cultivars of cabbages derive from a wild species which still grows around our sea shores, but it is smaller and more bitter. Much of this domestication was done before Gregor Mendel explained the mechanisms of heredity.....
The variations are what breeders look out for, or in the wild, environmental conditions can select them depending on the changes they bring to a species. Now that we have detailed knowledge of the molecular structure of the genetic material in cells, scientists can isolate the genes which cause the desired and the unwanted traits......... READ MORE ON THE WEBSITE
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