A. Although the weather may still be pretty bleak, February is an important month in the garden, not least because if you get cracking now you will reap the benefits later. The usual provisos
00:00 Fri 01st Feb 2002A. For the casual or occasional gardener then there is no reason why an occasional trip to the garden centre shouldn't suffice. But anyone who has really got the gardening bug knows that there is
00:00 Fri 01st Feb 2002Last week, in response to a question from Ravenhair we looked at ways to ensure your property sold quickly and at the right place by making it stand out from the crowd. This week the shoe is on the
00:00 Fri 01st Feb 2002A. Seed potatoes are specially grown tubers saved from last season's crop. Like seeds they are sown to produce this year's crop. Q. What is to stop you just saving some of your own crop and using
00:00 Thu 24th Jan 2002Ravenhair recently asked for tips on how to sell a property fast while still getting a good price. According to the latest figures the housing market is showing little or no sign of slowing down and
00:00 Thu 24th Jan 2002A. No, but it isn't just a case of picking up a spade and turning over some earth either. Different types of soils and conditions demand different methods of digging, there are right and wrong
00:00 Thu 24th Jan 2002A. The exploitation of Britain's peat bogs has become a hot environmental issue. Campaigners such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Friends of the Earth estimate that we have
00:00 Fri 18th Jan 2002A. Rising damp is caused when water from the ground spreads into the brickwork by means of capillary action, i.e. rising through fine cracks in the masonry. It is usually found only in the first
00:00 Fri 18th Jan 2002A. It was actually an Austrian who started it all. In 1593 the botanist Carolus Clusius left Vienna to take charge of the new botanic gardens attached to the University of Leiden in the Netherlands
00:00 Fri 18th Jan 2002A. It varies from plant to plant, but one rather good analogy that has been used is that of a business. Some plants have built up enough stocks before the arrival of winter that they can afford to
00:00 Fri 11th Jan 2002A. Excluding the poinsettia, which pretty much whatever you do will only have a shelf life of a couple of months at the most and so is really little more than a festive decoration, the most commonly
00:00 Fri 11th Jan 2002A. As if they'd all agree! Interior design is, or certainly should be, a matter of personal tastes, so there are plenty of different predictions out there. However, if there is one general trend
00:00 Fri 11th Jan 2002A. On average house prices rose by around 12 per cent last year, the biggest annual increase for around 20 years. It depends who you listen to, but the general consensus between the big lenders such
00:00 Thu 03rd Jan 2002A. A beautiful and well-maintained garden is often one of the major selling points for potential buyers. In such cases chances are that the owners have loving tended and planted it over the years
00:00 Thu 03rd Jan 2002Q. OK, where shall we start A. Only the most perfect gardener (has such a thing been invented ) does everything in the garden when they should. For instance, how many of us kick ourselves every year
00:00 Thu 03rd Jan 2002A. While December can be pretty bleak, January is the month that the garden bites back, particularly in the shape of snowdrops, which should start emerging towards the end of the month. In terms
00:00 Fri 21st Dec 2001A. It is true that adding edible flowers to salads and dishes in expensive restaurants has become very trendy, some would say overly so, as it was in the late sixties and early seventies. Some have
00:00 Fri 21st Dec 2001A. On average burglaries rise over the weeks immediately before and after Christmas by over 20 per cent, according to Home Office statistics, with over 70,000 of us liable to be the victims of
00:00 Fri 21st Dec 2001A. It is a scheme, initially worth 250 million over three years, to help key public sector workers get onto the housing in property hot spots. Q. Why has it been introduced A. The continuing
00:00 Thu 20th Dec 2001A. It all depends. It is certainly preferable to the days and days of torrential rain we have endured over the last couple of winters and it makes the garden look extremely beautiful while it lasts.
00:00 Thu 20th Dec 2001