HELLO garden Lovers! I love this time of year - the sting has gone out of the summer heat, the awful humidity has subsided and it is once more a pleasure to spend hours toiling in the garden. It also helps when you have what is termed 'an autumn garden', with annuals and perennials such as salvias, marigolds and dahlias at their peak.

The much-welcomed rain of late has freshened up the flowers, lawns, trees, and shrubs - everything that relies on this precious drop! But …it has also germinated the archenemy of the gardener - weeds!

I can't recall a season in living memory when I have had to deal with so many weeds, and so many types of weeds. One weed that has taken hold in my garden and I doubt will ever be eradicated is something commonly called 'hundreds and thousands'. Tiny seeds hang in rows on the underside of the small branches and in their removal, drop off in their hundreds and thousands to start the cycle all over again. I'm sure it arrived in a potted plant from 'who knows where', and in only a few years is rampant in freshly tilled soil. Mulching helps reduce the problem, but as with all weeds, they continually crop up in unlikely places.

What is a weed? Most gardeners refer to a weed as 'any plant growing where it is not wanted'. A plant that becomes invasive, out competes your garden plants, takes valuable nutrients and moisture from the soil and due to its vigorous nature, destroys the 'look' and if left unchecked, the very garden itself. A darn nuisance!

On the other hand, many of us gardeners' welcome some so called weeds into our gardens - agapanthus, arum lilies, busy lizzies, seaside daisy. These are regarded more as environmental weeds and have become thus through the thoughtless disposal of garden waste into our native bush. Where they in turn are out competing and taking valuable nutrients, space, etc., from our beloved native plants. If managed in the garden, they can happily reside along side your more treasured plants.

Currently I have many unwanted guests in my garden, but experience has taught me that with a lot of perseverance, some aching bones and a little bad language - a modicum of control can be achieved over time.

On a brighter note, autumn also offers some wonderful Open Gardens across the region to visit. I recently explored the delights of some gardens from Kendall to Laurieton, where I discovered a little tropical oasis tended by a (not young) lady. The jewel for me was a magnificent Heliconia rostrata in all its blooming glory, with flower lobster claws. One of the joys of these open days is meeting up with 'garden friends', swapping ideas and cuttings and generally enjoying 'friendship through gardens'.

Happy Gardening, enjoy the rain and weed, weed, weed!!!

George Hoad

PS If anyone has any unwanted 'weeds' such as agapanthus, I am landscaping around my dam, Lake St George, in preparation for my charity Open Garden Day on June 29. I will happily dig and remove! Phone  6550 5890