A plague of maples

A large tree grows just the other side of my back garden fence.
For years I've believed it to be a sycamore, because of its 'helicopter' seeds, but having looked more closely at its flowers I think it may be a Norway maple.

In summer and early autumn it shades our side a little too well, hiding the sun from most of the lawned area.

But the greatest problem with it is propagation. Each autumn those 'helicopter' seeds come whizzing over the fence, and each spring those seeds take root.

These little seedlings are an absolute nightmare this year.

I'm sure they'd take over completely if left to their own devices!

I started off with a plan of pulling up half a dozen of them each time I went in the garden. 

It wasn't enough!

I moved on to a dozen, then two, but more seem to keep springing up wherever I look.

Clearing open areas like the vegetable patches isn't so difficult - turn the top few inches of soil, and the roots will shrivel - but they always find a place under a prickly rose bush, or hidden by daffodil stalks, and, before I realise, they're too big to be easily pulled out.

This one escaped last year's cull, though, and is shaping up as an attractive bonsai!

When is a weed not a weed?

lamb's lettuce

 Trapped inside with my continuing cold virus, I've become increasingly annoyed by the weeds running wild over the patio and paths. So today I decided they needed to be tackled.
There's plenty of the obvious sort of unwelcome plants there - grass, dandelions and such - but our patio had to try to be different! I found sycamore seedlings from the 'helicopters' that fly into the garden in autumn, self-set lamb's lettuce, oregano and lemon balm, strawberry runners, forget-me-nots, dog violets, aquilegias, and even lily of the valley spreading its roots under the slabs!

forget-me-not

Most I've tried to remove but some of the flowering 'weeds' I think deserve to stay for a while.

lily of the valley

dog violet and aquilegia

Useful 'weeds'

 Last year we grew some spinach at the allotment. It carried on growing and growing, and we just left it there to run to seed which we then collected for this year's plants. What we didn't expect was that the uncollected seed would self-set. But they did - and spinach has sprung up between the cabbage and cauliflowers we've planted this year. It's very useful for salads though.

Are these blackberries really weeds? Well, we didn't plant them - they're part of the prickly hedge that surrounds the allotments - and when they spread into our patch they're a dreadful nuisance that we immediately dig up. Still, I like blackberries for apple pies or jam and having seen the price supermarkets are asking for blackberries, I'm not going to complain about them. Just stay by the fence, will you?

Weeds

Just been weeding on a sunny afternoon and now have a vase of them for the table!