“Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret,” says Horace. You can
drive Nature out with a pitchfork, but she will always return. I don’t
know about you, but I am inclined to lend a respectful ear to a man who
had the good sense to run away from the battle of Philippi.

Two thousand years later, unruly, recalcitrant Nature is still invading
your garden. The modern equivalents of the pitchfork are, I suppose, the gruesome armoury of horticultural chemicals – pesticides, fungicides, and postemergent herbicides…  Read more