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 last
01:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001A. 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, which
01:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001A. 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 increasingly
01:00 Tue 25th Sep 2001A. 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,
01:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001A. 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 of
01:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001A. 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 one
01:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001A. 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 around
01:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001A. 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 more
01:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001A. 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 your
01:00 Tue 11th Sep 2001A. 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 provide
01:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001A. 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 up
01:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001A. 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 if
01:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001A. 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 average
01:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001A. 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 proviso
01:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001A. 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 Estate
01:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001A. 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,
01:00 Tue 07th Aug 2001A. 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 a
01:00 Fri 03rd Aug 2001A. 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 problems
01:00 Fri 03rd Aug 2001A. 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 course
01:00 Tue 24th Jul 2001A. 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 no
01:00 Sat 01st Sep 2001
