Weed worries

Gardens in May are full of promise. As temperatures warm up, trees, shrubs, and flowers burst into blossom, creating a vibrant and colourful landscape.

- with DIARMUID GAVIN

However, this time of year also marks peak flowering season for many uninvited guests, commonly known as weeds. While there is now a more relaxed attitude towards wildflowers - recognising their important role in supporting pollinators - in practical terms we often need to remove them - especially if they're growing in driveways, patios, or competing with cherished plants.

Some weeds, like bindweed and ground elder, are particularly invasive and can quickly strangle your culti-vated perennials if unchecked.

Traditionally, gardeners relied on chemical herbicides to control weeds. However, we now know that these chemi-cals can have serious environ-mental and health impacts.

For instance, Bayer, the giant pharma-ceutical and chemical producer, recently paid about $10billion to settle claims that Roundup - a popular herbicide based on glyphosate - causes cancer.