Hi all, 75th birthday coming up and I'm angling to get a new wheelbarrow from the family. Requirements: 1. Largish (for carting leaves & moss), but not too heavy 2.Broad wheel to avoid ruts in soft lawns 3.Hard-wearing interior as I occasionally use it for mixing soil 4. Can be left in open all ...

On my regular dandelion hunt on the lawn I note that some have a deep tap root, while others are shallow, with lots of tiny roots. An internet site says that Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion, has a deep tap root. What are the others? Are there more than one species?
John N.

Those who followed my Bosch mower/strimmer bargain (sse below) might like to know that the Art 26 Easytrim that comes with this deal is a non-adjustable strimmer and is built for someone about 6'6" tall! I'm only 5'7". But.... I rang Bosch customer service and they happily said that they w...

Went this a.m. and bought the £70 Bosch mower at B & Q - and got a £22 strimmer bundled in free of charge! As my 15yr old B&D strimmer is on it's last legs this was a pretty good bargain to me!
John N

My son has asked me to buy him an electric rotary lawn mower for a birthday present, not a hover and a fairly small lawn. Probably go to B&Q for the 10% OAP discount, and I like the look and price of the Bosch 0600885570 at £69.98 with a 2yr warranty. Anyone any views on this choice? Thanks. Joh...

Re Chantal's bus driver comment. I was in a bus in the USA speeding along the turnpike, when a girl went in the "comfort room" at the back, which door opens outward. The driver saw this in his mirror and began to swerve violently from side to side. Finally straightening up he grinned broad...

I used this last year and it seemed to work OK - have only just used up the last of our 2007 spuds. But does the spray on the foliage get down to the tubers, or does the "poisonous" aspect just refer to danger to the sprayer?
John N

hi GG
I used to use stable manure when I had an easy supply from a girl friend with a horse, but gave up because 1.Too many wood shavings (no wireworms as far as I know!), and 2. A record crop of weeds from seeds that had passd through the nag.
John N.

Thank you, one and all. The positive message received is that it's not all my incompetence - I feel a lot better after that revealation!! Plan of action? Don't think I'll bother!
John N

I have regular failures in growing cauliflowers - usually they either stay tiny or sprout in all directions before maturity, or go brown. The plot seems to produce cabbages, sprouts etc OK. Can an expert please give me, say, a five point list of "musts" to get success with caulis? Many tha...

I have had an electric ALKO for some years now and it has been excellent, though I only use it occasionally. My tip for pushing stuff down onto the blades is to use a piece of bamboo cane, which shreds and doesn't damage the blades if it touches them.
John N

Neither my wife or I are veggies, but we do often enjoy a veggie meal made from garden produce. Lizzie, I thnk you are taking the "moral" side of this a bit too seriously, but one way of getting round your problem would be to make a whole load of various veggie dishes (ratatouille is one),...

Yeah, good thinking OH. But my cunning plan would be to plant the seeds upside down!!
John N

I bow to your superior knowledge on this OH. I always thought "our" seeds had some built in gene which prevented them growing outside their proper season. Last year I bought some Spring Onions for planting in April. None came up and when I read the packet I saw that they were for autumn pl...

As the southern hemisphere seasons are reversed to ours I presume that lettuce, radish, beans etc out in OZ are planted in, say, October and harvested in their summer, ie Dec-May. If "their" seeds are planted in October in Britain and kept at the right temp, will they grow and crop through...