Sunny with bursts of heavy rain… for you and I, this might represent challenging dressing conditions (coat? umbrella? sandals?) – but plants couldn’t be happier… and this extends to invasive, persistent weeds. Over the years, I have waged war on bindweed and dandelions, at times foolishly believing I was winning. But after a perfect combination of optimal growing weather and a busy few weeks at work they advance again, more vigorously than before. Bindweed wraps its way around the football goal and the rake. The tiny blue flowers of alcanet twinkle on top of a million hairy stems in borders and around the edges of the drive. And, my old enemy, dandelions, happily wave at me from several vantage points in the lawn. It’s time to call in an expert and find out how to eradicate them for good. Happily Dan Cooper of Dan Cooper Garden is on hand to answer my questions.

For weeds in your gravel drive:

‘If your gravel is thick enough, it should prevent weeds from germinating. So one solution would be just to have a thicker layer of gravel,’ says Dan. ‘Gravel is actually one of the easiest things to weed, because weeds can’t really get a foothold making them relatively easy to pull up. Alternatively, if you want to spray and you don’t want to use a nasty chemical that’ll hang around in the soil and might harm your pet, try one of the products based pelargonic acid, an extract from geraniums. It’s naturally occurring and works really, really quickly, especially on a sunny day.’

For weeds in your flower beds:

‘You have two categories of weeds,’ explains Dan. ‘There are weeds with long roots, known as tap roots, that run deep into the ground, of which alcanet is one, and bindweed is another. To weed these plants effectively, you need to take out the entire root – if you just pull it off at the top, it will resprout from what’s left of the root underground.’ Dan recommends using a dandelion weeder to plunge into the ground it cut off the root very deep down. He adds: ‘Another important thing with those weeds is not to put them on your compost heap, if you can help it, because there’s a danger that they will then just grow in your compost.

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‘If you’re not in a hurry, you can put a thick membrane over the area; a heavy black plastic or a special weed suppressing membrane and literally block the light out from the plant. But you need to do that over the course of a whole year. Any roots and plant that grow under the membrane will decompose and put their nutrients back into the soil. If you do it well, it should pretty much be 100% successful, because no plant can survive a year with no light.’

And with bindweed, there’s one other solution to try. ‘Every time you see a bit, pull it out; it’s the same principle as covering it with black plastic. No plant can survive forever if it if it isn’t permitted to grow. Keep pulling the bindweed out before it flowers and it will get weaker and eventually go.'

closeup of woman hand after pulling weeds in garden
DavidPrahl//Getty Images

For weeds in your lawn:

If thinking about the state of your lawn has you drawing a sharp breath, Dan has some wise words. ‘What many people are doing nowadays is accepting a certain amount of weeds or wildflowers... whichever you want to call them! There will be things other than grass that grow in your lawn, and you might learn to love the odd daisy.’

To prevent weeds in the first instance, he advises, keep your lawn in good condition. ‘Almost the best control for weeds – particularly those that spread by seed – is not to give them any space to come up; that way, there’s nowhere for the weed seeds to fall on the ground and get light to germinate. Your lawn is most vulnerable when there are gaps; a healthy, a well-fed lawn will not get weeds in it to the same extent as a lawn that has bare patches because the kids have been playing football or the dog has wee’d on it. Keeping your lawn healthy will reduce the number of weeds you get.’

Learning to love the odd daisy is one thing – but what if dandelions or couch grass have taken root? ‘If you do get weeds, the last thing you want to do is dig up big holes. I’d use a dandelion weeder, to pull the weed out without messing up the grass around it. There’s also a weeding tool called a daisy grubber, which is designed for getting the surface weeds out – plants like daisies and clover, which don’t grow deeply into your lawn, but do spread along the surface.’

For weeds in raised beds:

‘If you’re growing veg, you have to be very careful not to damage the stems of the emerging plants when you weed, says Dan. ‘You tend to get a lot of annual, very quick-growing weeds in raised beds – little weeds that sort of come up flower and then die. Use a Japanese hoe, which is just a very sharp, short hoe; it cuts the weeds off between the top and the roots. Use the hoe on a on a sunny day gently in between the rows and then just leave those emerging weeds where they fall to fertilize the soil.’

And he has these final words of wisdom for spring and summer gardeners. ‘My advice is to keep on top of it, because the minute those weeds go to seed, that famous piece of garden lore comes into play – one year’s weeds equals seven years. Seeds live a long time in the soil. It’s about to get drier again,and we’ll start to water; don’t sprinkle all over the surface, as you’re inviting weeds to grow. Just water the base of the plant that you want to water.’

And if weeds do make their way through? ‘Sometimes, we have to reframe some of the things that we don’t like doing in our gardens – and this is definitely the case with weeding,’ says Dan. ‘I find weeding can be quite therapeutic – try to find if not joy, but satisfaction, in addressing them.’