Springtime and the weeding is easy

There is nothing better than a beautiful spring afternoon with the gentle sun on your back weeding a border.The ground is soft and fragrant and none of the larger herbaceous plants have taken off yet giving loads of room for manoeuvre and the weeds are small and easy to move.The bittercress are neat  and soft and come out in one small clump and even the creeping buttercup is soft and pliable.The dreaded docks come out in one go and not with the sickening snap that means you will be revisiting this area again in a few weeks. In one garden I work on they have one area that has a small amount of ground elder that I have a constant battle with under a patch of three Cotoneasters.The only course of action is glyphosate and I have always found this is the best time of year to apply it effectively.I do take the precaution of covering the shrubs and plants nearby so that I can concentrate the spray on the young green shoots. This week appears to be the best opportunity as there is no rain forecast for a couple of days.I used to mix the weedkiller with washing up liquid and put it on with a glove but I still find spraying the most effective and efficient way of dealing with the weeds.
On a more creative note now is a good time to sow grass seed. The patch left by the old apple tree with its glorious climber 'Rambling Rector' now has to be filled.Last year we had a beautiful gnarled old apple tree with I had planted with various climbers and perennial sweet peas - it was a glorious sight in the summer.It has ,however succumbed to the weather and age and had to be removed.There is much debate on what to replace it with - another tree? or a shrub?