How Does our Garden Grow?

@Albus_Scope , that stuff grows everywhere!!! It's taken over the garden at the front and totally smothers everything! Some of the sruff seems to grow like a trailer and takes root all along it's vines. I was daft enough to think I had some sort of wild strawberry growing when it first appeared 😂 I also confuse it with buttercup or cinquefoil which I also have. A neighbour explained to me about counting the leaves or petals, but I gave up. I've previously tried the covering in cardboard thing, but it all just seems to lay dormant and pops straight back up.
It all seems to grow spectacularly well in the dry clay of my garden. I've decided to embrace it as 'ground cover' and and plant amongst it with taller plants I've grown like cosmos and wildflowers or I smother it with nasturtiums that trail over it. 
I've seen those weed burners @Sandy_123 , the ones where you buy the cannisters. Reckon I'd need a proper flame thrower to deal with the amount that's out there. 
Once the plants I've been growing have got a bit bigger, I'll plant amongst it and hope for the best.

After much searching, getting a design done, the designer having to find a new contractor, we are getting the garden done. Raised beds, better access, and thankfully a housing association that is pretty much giving us free reign (Although we might be pushing it asking for permission to place 

Sort of garden related. Well they're running round it so must be!
Rats! No  , I'm not cursing😁. Has anyone else got an issue with them? One neighbours seen a lot apparently, I'd only seen a few. But the top side neighbour replaced their fence and now I've seen more. I think they disturbed a nest. I've got a part bred greyhound so she's really interested in them. One had a lucky escape the other day in fact. 
What does anyone suggest? Because of my dog I won't put poison down. I don't want to kill them anyway,  , they have as much right to life as I have. But it's a bit of a concern that I've seen a couple about six feet away from the house.  Don't want lodgers!  And don't know what to do about them. Wondered if anyone's got any ideas?
I think I should have started a new thread. But don't know how to so must apologise. 

Rats! Oh yeah! @birdwatcher A lot of neighbours have decking and several neighbours demolished old garden sheds. During some building work a few houses down, a massive rat nest was found and  disturbed with so many tunnels and holes!  Quite a few of us have bird feeders and we've also got a few student houses who's gardens aren't well kept with the grass growing to knee high in the summer. I give the students a friendly heads up because the foxes rip their rubbish bags open for food, they have decking, long grass and leave their patio doors open. Previous students have had mice and rats in the house which has caused problems along the entire row of terraced houses. I've  watched a 'squirrel with no tail' sit in the middle of the garden in broad daylight until I finally registered it was a rat! The magpies show a lot of interest in them! We've a healthy fox population which some neighbours don't like but I'm quiet thankfully for. Anyways @birdwatcher , my dog is too old and lazy to help. He's had a mouse sit directly in front of him and been more interested in the broom next to it,  but I think the council might be able to help and advise. I think it's the environmental department.
Now I just feed the birds suet pellets and mealworms so there's no mess left. Rats don't like change apparently, so perhaps move pots and things about. Gawd, I've just remembered my dear old mum pulling up what she thought was a big weed from her flower pot only to be left holding a dead rat by its tail which the fox had buried. 😂 I'm gonna give you nightmares so I'll stop now.!!
@WelshBlue , I really don't know. Some of the ones in my garden grow on long vines that trail and even creep over concrete while there's another much bigger, upright and thicker one and another that's like a single strawberry plant. Perhaps they are variants from the same family? Whatever they are, they lay dormant but grow back very aggressively!

Albus_Scope said:

We've spied a couple of rats in our garden, cleaning up after the birds, so we're trying to put down the "no mess" bird food. The neighbours garden is fairly overgrown with decking and a couple of sheds, so it's ideal for them to live in.  It's unfortunate as the young rats look really cute and I want to be their friend, but I'm sure over time I'd have far too many friends. 

I've also just bought some slug killing nematodes, so hopefully the garden wont get eaten again this year. I like the natural approach. :

just plant a few extra job done 

run copper pipe around it that will detract them crushed egg shells wool pellets or sharp horticultural grit will help