The AnswerBank Articles

Why would you want to create a wildflower area

A. There are plenty of good reasons to let part of your garden go wild. Wild flowers used to be a common site, but with modern farming methods and the gradual creep of housing development in rural00:00 Tue 24th Apr 2001

What are the pitfalls of moving from the city to a remote part of the country

asks Tony B:A. Earning a living is probably the biggest one. And the first question locals will ask you. They will already be aware of how difficult it can be to make a living. So, work out how you'll00:00 Mon 16th Apr 2001

What plants should you put next to a computer to clean up the air

asks Su Smith:A. Most homes and offices can usually produce a few sad-looking spider plants, but they could be useful. There are a whole range of plants that have been found to clean up the atmosphere00:00 Mon 16th Apr 2001

What does the coming of April mean in the garden

A. This is it, weather allowing. If you’ve done all the donkey work, planned your beds, bought the bulbs, are nurturing those seedlings, this is the month when you should really be able to start00:00 Fri 06th Apr 2001

What is the difference between hard and soft water

A. Essentially it boils down (excuse the pun) to mineral content. Hard water filters into our water supplies through soft rock, picking up minerals such as calcium and magnesium on the way, whereas00:00 Fri 06th Apr 2001

Plants you just can't kill

GARDENING may be the new rock and roll and the outside room one of the designer buzzwords of the moment. But not everyone is born with green fingers or has years of horticultural experience so00:00 Fri 06th Apr 2001

What is a listed building

A. A listed building is one that appears on a statutory list of buildings of 'special architectural or historic interest' designed to protect the best of our architectural heritage. Q. Who decides00:00 Tue 03rd Apr 2001

Why grow flowers in the garden for cutting

A. There are lots of good reasons. Firstly, you get the benefits of the blooms in the garden before you cut them, so you get the best of both worlds. Secondly buying cut flowers from the florist00:00 Tue 03rd Apr 2001

What impact has foot and mouth had on the gardening industry

A. It is a slightly mixed picture, but certainly not a healthy one. Country-based nurseries and garden centres are suffering in the same way as so many other rural industries. Nearly 70% of00:00 Tue 03rd Apr 2001

What is so good about home composting

A. You are making material that will improve your soil and make for healthier plants. You can make your own compost in even the smallest garden and, by using vegetable matter that would usually end00:00 Tue 27th Mar 2001

What is dust

A. Household dust is mainly made up of discarded human skin cells, which explains why it is often a translucent blue-grey icolour. Other elements of dust such as pollen, tiny particles of soil, soot00:00 Tue 27th Mar 2001

Why is container gardening so popular these days

A. One of the biggest factors is the huge range of attractive terracotta, glazed, wooden and retro-style containers that have come onto the market in the past decade. Containers are ideal for small00:00 Tue 27th Mar 2001

What is a mulch

A. A mulch is a layer of material spread direct onto the ground around the base of plants. It can take the form of well-rotted compost or manure, bark chippings, leaf mould, old straw or even pebbles00:00 Mon 19th Mar 2001

There s a lot of concern about burglary. But what are the facts

A. Although burglary fell by 8 per cent during 1990-2000, that is no comfort to the thousands of people who lose valuables and have their property ransacked every year. Here are a few facts to bear00:00 Mon 19th Mar 2001

I want to lay a new lawn. Where do I start

A. As always, with the soil. You need to know what lies below the surface before you do anything else. Even if you have what looks like a perfectly decent topsoil it can often disguise a multitude00:00 Tue 13th Mar 2001

Winter is still with us. Surely it is too early for serious gardening

A. Nothing could be further from the truth. We might still be in self-imposed hibernation, but many plants are beginning to come to life. Thorough preparation during March will help guarantee your00:00 Tue 13th Mar 2001

What do I need to do before I start tiling

A. That depends on the surface you are tiling. Any bumps in the wall will show up, so first of all it's important to make the surface as flat as possible. Then there are the various different00:00 Tue 13th Mar 2001

Taking the stubborn out of stains

By Tom Gard A couple of recent questions have been about the stubborn question of how to remove stains. We look at range of likely culprits and how to get them out of what. Q. What's the first00:00 Tue 06th Feb 2001

Cleaning up a dusty question

By Tom Gard THERE has been an amazing range of questions and answers on the Homes and Gardens channel this week. Here’s a look at some of the best of this week's batch. 'Why is fluff in my00:00 Tue 06th Mar 2001

How do you install your own swimming pool

By Tom Gard THE number of private homes with swimming pools is rocketing. Once thought of as a luxury for the ultra-rich, there are now a wide range of surprisingly affordable pools on the market. 00:00 Mon 26th Feb 2001