While one should be reluctant to use herbicides at the best of times, there are two kinds that are especially worth avoiding altogether.
Chemical weed killers or herbicides should be used as sparingly as possible in gardens as a whole, but especially in private ones. Excessive use of them is bad for the ecological balance in the garden itself, as much wild life is deterred from establishing itself, and in the wider sense, is a serious form of pollution.
The best way to derive inspiration from a garden design book, or from walking around a fine public park, is to relax, enjoy the sights, and try to understand the principles behind what you see.
All of us involved in gardening, whether home gardeners or landscape professionals, ought to have the will and desire to learn continuously about our amazing occupation. A stroll in the local park, apart from being a pleasant experience in itself, is an opportunity for gaining just one more insight, or learning something new. This is even more so when one visits some great and famous garden, or even while thumbing through a garden design book. The question is, do you know how to learn from these experiences?
There are uglier weeds than Wood Sorrel, (Oxalis) but not many as difficult to treat. Within a bed of ground cover plants for example, it can be disastrous.
Oxalis, commonly known as Wood Sorrel, is hardly one of the ugliest of weeds. On the contrary, many species are favored perennials in garden beds, with their delicate, clover-like leaves, and attractive blooms. Yet one species of Wood Sorrel, Oxalis pes-caprae, can be in certain circumstances, one of the most annoying and difficult weeds to eradicate.