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Article: Weedy? No, this lot are dangerous thugs; Even plants you like can turn into aggressive pests if you don't keep them under control. Ken Thompson tells you how to stay on top.(Features)
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- May 30, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a weed as 'a plant that grows, especially profusely, where it is not wanted'. As this suggests, any plant can be a weed if it's in the wrong place, and grows too enthusiastically. For those of a tidy disposition, the insult caused - the implication that you're not in control of your garden - is somehow worse than the injury.
Weeds increase by seed, or by vegetative reproduction from spreading stems or roots. Seeds allow plants to travel long distances - dispersing in the wind, getting a ride from a bird, even hitching a lift on walkers' woolly socks or sweaters. Other weeds reproduce through runners, stems that ...