The AnswerBank Articles

What is Britain s favourite garden plant

A. No real surprises here, the rose (it is the national flower after all). What we all really knew anyway was made official by a survey of gardeners carried out by publishers Dorling Kindersley last00:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001

The trees will soon be giving us the annual autumn display. What causes the leaves to change colour

A. What happens is this. The green pigments in leaves are the result of the production of chlorophyll, the stuff that converts carbon dioxide and nutrients into food for the plant to grow, which00:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001

Has the home working revolution hit Britain yet

A. Slowly but surely more and more of us are working from home. Millions self-employed people are now using their homes as offices instead of renting premises while employers are increasingly00:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001

What are the main disadvantages of gardening next to a main road

A. Gardeners living by main roads have to live with two sorts of pollution, noise pollution and airborne pollution. There are trees and shrubs that are particularly good at counteracting the former,00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

There seems to be no end to us Brits appetite for DIY, but are we any good at it

A. Not particularly, according to a recent survey carried out by internet bank cahoot. It found that around half those who embark on major DIY projects failed to finish them. Tellingly, most of00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

Property prices are still rising sharply is some parts of the country while mortgage rates are getting ever lower. Is it easier or harder to buy at the moment

A. It does depend on where you are, obviously, but there is a big paradox in many parts of the country, particularly the so-called property hotspots, which range from London to Newcastle. On the one00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

Autumn s just about here. Is it time to stop enjoying the garden and get back to work

A. Not at all. Even if we don't get one of those longed for Indian summers there is still plenty to enjoy on the good days. If you've been regularly picking your sweet peas they should be around00:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001

When did Artex first become popular

A. Artex had its hey-days in the 1970's when the spiky or swirling effects you can get with it where actually high fashion. Nowadays the sight of an artexed ceiling is enough to make our more00:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001

Summer s barely over. What s the rush to get in spring bulbs

A. There are two good reasons. Firstly there are some bulbous plants that simply won't appear on time unless you get them in within the next few weeks. Secondly, unless your happy to take your00:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001

I ve heard a lot about government planes to introduce a house-sellers pack. What is it

A. The planned house-sellers pack is designed to make the whole process of buying and selling property more open and ultimately quicker. Essentially the idea is to get the home owner to provide00:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001

I ve been trying to fill a small but deep crack in a wall but just when I think I ve got it right the filler collapses inwards. What am I doing wrong

A. The problem is that although the top layer might look dry and flush what's behind is still wet and hasn't filled the gap, so that when it comes to sanding or painting the whole lot ends up00:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001

We ve got a garden for the first time. What are the basic tools we ll need to get started

A. You will need at the very minimum a spade, a fork, a rake and hand tools like a trowel and spade. If you've got a reasonably large garden you may well find you need a wheelbarrow, especially if00:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001

We ve got a corner of the garden which is permanently wet even in summer. What can we do with it

A. Have you considered creating a bog garden They can bring a new dimension to the average garden, allowing you to grow a lot of native and introduced species that would struggle in the average00:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001

I m fed up with shop bought strawberries. Is it easy to grow your own

A. Yes, strawberries are easily grown in pretty much any garden. They can be planted in the vegetable garden, greenhouse, in borders or in pots or window boxes if space is limited. The only proviso00:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001

Can anyone become an estate agent

A. Yes, anyone can act for you in selling a property. However, to ensure you chose one that is regulated by their own industry check the agents are members of the National Association of Estate00:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001

Why do shop bought herbs often not have much flavour and fall over so quickly

A. A lot of shop bought herbs, especially the tender kinds out of season, may look very lush but have often be forced under glass and they tend to lack flavour. They also have a tendency to be soft,00:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001

With the sun out there can t be much to do in the garden in August. Or is there

A. August is traditionally known as the harvest month, a time of ripening vegetables and cut flowers for the vase. But with possibly the hottest, driest conditions of the year in store it also a00:00 Fri 03rd Aug 2001

We ve just had one of the wettest winters on record. Why should we worry about saving water

A. It is true that rainfall over the past couple of winters and last spring makes the imminent threat of water shortages most unlikely. However, in the longer term the country could face problems00:00 Fri 03rd Aug 2001

Don t trees in small gardens always end up causing all sorts of problems

A. In many cases they do, but it's the fault of whoever planted them, not the trees. Basically you have to plant a tree that will stay in proportion to the space you have available. Of course00:00 Tue 24th Jul 2001

Why are we so obsessed with weeding Some weeds are actually quite attractive.

A. There is a saying popular among advocates of wilder more naturalistic gardening which goes along the lines of 'a weed is just a plants whose virtues haven't been discovered yet.' There is no00:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001