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Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by our own Horticulturist, John Valleau. Just released in a brand new 4th edition!

I've noticed that major numbers of weeds are thriving in the cool, moist weather. Not just the usual garlic mustard and other winter annual weeds, but throngs of self-seeded Asters and Goldenrods that I never saw last autumn. It's time for some serious intervention! You'll notice the advice below on ridding a border of Quack Grass -- using a familiar friend to a lot of perennial gardeners, the handy bottle of RoundUp. I buy the big bottle of concentrate because it's good value, but I also find the smaller hand-pump bottles of the premixed stuff to come in really handy for spot spraying.

I keep it around for those moments when I happen to spot a thistle or clump of suspect grass encroaching where it shouldn't. So long as the day is calm, it only takes a second to blast that weed out of existence without doing any harm to nearby perennials or shrubs.

I'm not particularly pro-chemical either. Other than insecticidal soap, this is one of the few pesticides you're likely to find in my garden shed. For somebody with a busy schedule and a big garden, I find that non-selective herbicides do the trick with minimal fuss. Carefully following the label directions and wearing the recommended protective clothing ensures minimal personal exposure. So, I've made my choice. I've also noted some organic alternatives below, because I feel it's important for you as a gardener to choose the methods that best suit your needs and personal philosophy. Whatever approach you select, I wish you the best of success in your perennial garden this season!

Rather than a draw, this month we've selected the three best entries. Each of the winners listed below will receive a copy of the new edition of the Perennial Gardening Guide by John Valleau. Congratulations go out to all three!

WINNER #1: Jim, Kingsville, ON
"I have been known to resort to name calling in the perennial garden. Since this garden lacks a mirror, this dummy's plants sometimes take the brunt of misplaced ire.

Perhaps in Gardening for Dummies he would have found that the striking burgundy Cryptotaenia japonica atropurpurea is a prolific self seeder. Who would believe that the miniscule, insignificant flowers could possibly turn out millions of hardy seeds and that those seeds could germinate between arid patio rocks even up to three years later?

One would think he would read Idiot's Guide to Gardening before buying Petasites japonicus (pictured above), which emerges uniquely and very early. What a chance to give early interest to the Hosta collection! Neato. Holy rampant rhizomatous rootstocks!! Three years of eviction efforts have not lessened the horrid hoards. Compost bins are overflowing with the coarse crop carcasses. No shortage of green matter there.

Why do beautiful delicate blue Corydalis not persist like the aforementioned thugs? Did I mention the trailing dwarf Potentilla in the Pachysandra? Will he ever learn? The Perennial Gardening Guide provides these warnings. This humbled dummy's older and wiser now."

WINNER #2: Gayle, Okotoks, AB
"Well, I doubt I will be the only one to say this, but my stupid perennial is Aegopodium podagraria 'Variegatum' or Snow-on-the-Mountain or Bishop's Weed or Goutweed or just plain Weed Weed! However you like to name it, it is just that, a weed!

Although it does have its place and beauty in a very well sectioned off area in a garden, this weed (oops, I mean perennial) will probably some day end up on the noxious weed list. I have this planted along the north facing part of my house, in deep shade. It rarely gets rain and I never water it. I have a cement pathway which is approximately 18 - 24" wide running along my patch and it still finds its way to the other side. It is fairly manageable there and actually does look great.

Unfortunately, in my early and naive years of gardening I planted some in another deep shady area with some cedars along a wooden fence. With hopes to prevent my front yard and my neighbors yard and their neighbors yard from becoming a field of Goutweed I have sprayed it with RoundUp and covered most of it with old wood we had lying around. It seemed to slow it down quite a bit last fall but I have a feeling I will have more resistance from this "stupid perennial" and have my own little garden war going on this summer and maybe next summer and maybe the summer after that and... well, you get the picture!"

WINNER #3: Anne, Hamilton, ON
"Nine years ago, my husband and I bought a house with a run-down garden and badly maintained grass. No problem, said I. I have enthusiasm and muscle and I am prepared to do the job. We groomed and dug and finally created a beautiful new garden bed in the back corner of the yard. With great excitement, I ventured off to the local nursery and purchased perennials and a few herbs. They grew beautifully and filled in the whole garden by the end of the season. I have never experienced such joy.

According to Jennifer, "Unfortunately, there are no chemical pesticides with Lily Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris lilli) on the label that I am aware of. Some insecticides (carbaryl) list Leaf Beetles on some of their product labels though. The larval stage is hard to kill given the slimy covering that protects it. Most adult beetles are very difficult to kill no matter what species. I wonder if lady bird beetles or any other commercially available predatory beetles will feed on the lily leaf beetle larvae? A direct spot spray of insecticidal soap may help to smother at least the adult stage."

"By recognizing the adults, larvae and eggs your readers will likely have a higher rate of success with hand removal." In other words, pick them off and drown the things!

QUESTION: What kind of weed killer can I use over the top of my perennials? I have Lilies, Daylilies, Iris, Peonies and Poppies, all full of quack grass. Elaine -- Hawley, Minnesota

ANSWER: Quack Grass is a persistent perennial weed with running underground roots known as rhizomes. Depending on where you live, it may also be known as Twitch Grass. Unfortunately, there is no magic herbicide that will kill only the Quack Grass and leave the rest of your perennials untouched. Every perennial gardener, myself included, wishes that such a product existed. Because so many different kinds of plants are grown together in perennial gardens, it seems unlikely that anybody could ever invent the perfect perennial garden weed killer.

When Quack Grass or other spreading perennial weeds take over, you really have three choices.

• You can dig up your perennial clumps and remove every stitch of grass root that you can find, replant them in pots or somewhere else temporarily and spray the remaining weeds with RoundUp (or a similar generic herbicide containing glyphosate).
• You could sacrifice all your perennials and just spray everything, then start over again after the plants die -- in about three weeks.
• The last approach is to spot spray the grasses in between your clumps with RoundUp. You need to keep a watering can handy to wash the spray off any desirable plants, because it always accidentally gets on a few things. Choose a really calm day for this, and do it when the grass is between 4 and 8 inches tall. May and June are good timing.
  If grass is mixed right into the clumps of perennial, put some RoundUp in a disposable plastic container and use a paint brush to paint it onto the leaf blades. This is really tedious but gives pretty good results.

This is in no way meant to be a free commercial for this particular group of chemical herbicides. In my own garden RoundUp is one of the few pesticides that I keep on the shelf, and it has proven itself to do the job time and again, controlling most weeds except for Field Horsetail.

As an alternative to a chemical herbicide, Quack Grass and most other persistent perennial weeds can also be smothered out. The infested area needs to be completely covered with a sheet of heavy black plastic, or with entire sections of the newspaper. If you like, cover this with a decorative bark mulch or similar for the four months or so that it's going to take to work. After this time, remove the plastic then go ahead and replant the area. If you use newspaper and a mulch, just cut holes where you want your perennials to grow, and allow the newspaper and mulch to remain as a natural source of organic matter.

After buying my first property during the winter eleven years ago, I was so disappointed the next spring when I discovered there were no delightful garden treasures -- only huge patches of Goutweed!! I ran to the garden center and came home armed with a new sprayer and a jug of RoundUp. I sprayed every last plant in early May, when the leaves were only about 4 to 6 inches tall. Within three weeks nearly all of it was completely dead, but for a few sprigs here and there, which I hit a second time. The odd piece tries to sneak in from the neighbor's garden, but aside from that there has never been a shred of the nasty stuff back in the border proper.

CLEMATIS are extremely popular flowering vines, and many gardeners need help with pruning. There are several sites online with advice on this topic: Clematis Pruning - T.H. Barker and Sons Nursery, Pruning at clematisnursery.com and A Clematis Pruning Guide: Fine Gardening Magazine.

If you want to try to tackle propagating your own Clematis, head to Propagating Clematis from Cuttings.

HYDRANGEA PRUNING is quite specific to the type growing in your garden. Find out the right method and timing at Cornell University's Pruning Hydrangea Page.

BLUE HOLLY bushes are looking terribly wind-burned this spring in eastern portions of the continent. I've not seen a page specifically on what to do about winter burn, but this Holly Information Page at the University of Connecticut has some great general cultural information.

If you wonder what to plant under a BLACK WALNUT tree, try the Black Walnut Toxicity Page at Ohio State University.

Her enormously popular Favorite Garden Tips is absolutely crammed full of all kinds of information that Marjorie has gleaned from years of reading gardening books and magazines, not to mention methods and philosophies she has devised herself through experimenting in her tiny Toronto garden. This book is organized alphabetically by topic, so it's extremely easy to find what you're looking for, be it tips on getting rid of Earwigs, definitions of garden terms such as "microclimate" or ideas on making a Winter Garden. I'm always suspicious of reprinted and so-called revised books, so I asked Marjorie about this and she assured me that she spent many weeks doing research and adding loads of new content. One of the things I love is her ability to look at something many of us would discard or overlook and put it to good use in the garden. For instance, under Edging she says, "Broken pieces of concrete sidewalk, which almost every homeowner seems to have lurking under the front porch, can be put to good use in raised beds. Use the rough-looking side, which is studded with pebbles, to edge a bed; let plants spill over the sides to soften the edges. You can always pick up this sort of thing in any local renovation -- for free."

The book has several home remedies for pest and disease problems, since Marjorie is an avid organic gardener. The information covers the whole spectrum from ornamental gardening to herb and vegetable growing, attracting or deterring wildlife, and tips on general gardening methods and techniques.

In the new edition of Pocket Gardening, Marjorie shows how even the tiniest of garden spaces can be transformed into places of intimate beauty. This book is worth it just for her great ideas on container gardening, including growing perennials in pots. Nobody else that I know writes so well about reclaiming odd spaces such as parking lots and back alleys, not to mention renovating that old basketball court.

Even gardening in the sidewalk cracks is covered, and there are sections on balcony gardening and some great water gardening ideas. The final section is a listing of Marjorie's favorite pocket gardening plants, an A to Z of everything she has found to be dependable in her small city garden, including loads of hardy perennials.