Floods of this, armies of that: the language of overwhelm is back in the news. It creeps too into the way we think about our gardens.

This plant is “taking over”. That one is “greedy” for resources. This is gardening as a kind of border patrol, where we decide what deserves a place. Indeed, when weeding I often catch myself muttering: “You can go; you can stay.” And what of “invasive” plants? The ones that threaten to swamp our little Edens? Regular readers will know the losing battle I fight in my patch with brambles, our native Rubus fruticosus; I’ve learned to accept that bines will be laced through my borders, to acknowledge that bramble flowers are a crucial source of nectar for late-summer pollinators.

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