Dealing with cats can be a real challenge for gardeners. On the one hand, even if you're not a cat fan, you don't actually want to hurt them. Apart from anything else, cats have owners and while cats do like to roam, they usually don't roam too far, which means that their owners are probably […]

When it comes to protecting decking, a lot of people will automatically reach for wood oils and stains.  These give solid protection while preserving the natural appearance of the wood.  If that works for you then great, but if you fancy something a little different, then maybe you should think about using decking paint. Choosing […]

Wood-burning stoves have been used for centuries and they are still very popular today.  Some people use them as their main source of heating (and potentially for cooking too) and many people keep them as back-ups, in case they have issues with their central heating (especially these days when electric heating is becoming more common). […]

Even if you have a tumble dryer at home, using it is expensive, bad for your clothes and bad for the environment. Basically, you want to air dry if you possibly can, but that isn't always easy. Your outdoor space may be too precious for you to want to give up any of it to […]

If you already live in one of the UK's hard-water areas then you probably won't need us to convince you about the benefits of using a water softener and you may wish just to skip straight down to our review of the best water softeners in the UK, alternatively, if you're curious to learn more […]

It's amazing how items from bygone eras can make an unexpected comeback.  Not so long ago, people were ditching traditional stove top kettles for their electric counterparts.  Now, many people are looking at all the cables they have in their home and wondering what went wrong.  Stove top kettles are, therefore, making a triumphant return […]

Cordless strimmers are handy for light work but there’s a definite limit to what they can do.  If you need a strimmer to chomp its way through serious vegetation, then you need a petrol strimmer.  Petrol strimmers are definitely more expensive than cordless strimmers but we’ve picked out five of them which we think are […]

If you’re of a certain age, you may remember an old advert with the tagline “It’s a lot less bother with a hover”.  That’s basically the appeal of hover mowers.  They are designed to make light work of mowing small areas to the sort of standard the average person will accept.  If you already know […]

A good decking oil will nourish the wood and protect it from the weather and from anything the weather can throw at it, such as pollutants and contaminants.  Some decking oils have added UV filters to protect against the ageing effects of sunlight.  The key to success is to choose the right decking oil for […]

A good cordless strimmer will tidy the edges of lawns and around obstacles (like trees), quickly, easily and at least fairly quietly.  If you know you definitely want a cordless strimmer and just want some recommendations on which one to buy, then please skip straight to our cordless strimmer review section.  If you’d like to […]