The gardeners blame the nurseries. The nurseries blame the botanic gardens. The botanical gardens blame the government. And, the government blames the home gardener. If you're looking for someone to pin the blame on then it seems the obvious choice is - somebody else.

Trying to stop plants becoming invasive weeds is almost as impossible as attempting to contain swine flu. No sooner do you think its been restrained then another outbreak occurs in an area where you least expected it. It appears, on the macro level at least, that weed control is as probable as reaching the mythical "gold at the end of the rainbow".

The problem is that weeds don't usually start out as weeds. Instead they commence life in our gardens as endeared plants that are lovingly cultivated and enjoyed. Yet, somehow, they morph from being nurtured plants to becoming an invasive species threatening to ruin our indigenous flora.

How do they get to this point?

For whatever reason that plant you bragged about with your gardening friends really did grow well in your garden. So well, in fact, that it escaped your boundaries and began growing just as well in that fertile soil along the local creekbed.

How did it get there? It arrived in this new haven of contentment when birds picked up the fruits or berries and dropped them along the way. Or, when gardeners discarded their unwanted plants in bushland. Or, when the wind carried flower seeds over your fence and into areas of less habitation.

We propagate them and share with friends or on-sell them at weekend markets. We dispose of them at the local refuse site expecting that action will finally rid us of this plant. We might even carelessly throw them into a compost heap that isn't see a lot of heating action at the moment.

The truth is that weeds are plants that have become a problem. And while you may assume that this might be the case with your neighbours garden, nearly every plant in YOUR garden is a ticking time-bomb. Given the right conditions many of your plants could, they may already have, escape from your boundaries and become problematic in other places.

So this is where the weed control balme game starts. Gardeners blame the nurseries for selling them the plants in the first place. The nurseries blame the botanical gardens for producing them and making them popular while the botanical gardens blame the government for not providing enough information to home gardeners. It's a dire chicken-egg scenario that seems to have no outcome - certainly no positive outcome, anyway.

While the other links in the chain continue to argue the point, home gardeners need to take some responsibility for weed control in their own backyards. Deadheading plants before they produce seeds, growing plants that are not listed on the local invasive species list, and taking precautions when passing on plants to other gardeners or discarding them are all positive steps that we can take to reduce the spread.

On the micro level, home gardeners can have a huge impact on the course of future weed growth.