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TV’s ‘Trading Up’ Expert answers your home improvement questions
Be warned, the days of sitting back and ignoring all those little household and garden chores is over. It is time to get rid of all those dried drops of paint on your window sills, stains on your carpets and with Spring finally here, now is the perfect time to get out in the garden and cut the lawn!
But don’t worry if you don’t know where to start when. We have BBC TV’s Trading Up presenter Michael Holmes and Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins with the solutions to all your problems at their fingertips.
As part of the WD-40 Dream Team there is hardly anything botanical genius Chris, a former Head Gardener at Westminster Abbey, doesn’t know about the best ways to clean your trowel and spade or how to tend your roses. More importantly he is willing to let you into a few of his professional secrets. His partner Michael, meanwhile, as one of the UK’s top property experts, is ready with his list of failsafe tips to stop all those irritating creaks and squeaks around the house.
BBC Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins and property expert Michael Holmes discuss solving all your household and gardening problems.
BD: Hello there and welcome to the Lifestyle Show brought to you by WD-40 my name is Bill Dod and I think it's safe to say that spring has arrived. Yeah the sun is shining most days the daffodils are now blooming and of course the grass is growing and also of course that's not the only thing that's growing it's also the lists of jobs that we have around the house. The DIY and the To Do Lists in the garden and I'm very happy to say we have the WD-40 dream team here today to give us a few tip on how to battle with those lists. Yes two guests in the studio to help us. [err] We’ve Chris Collins and [erm] Chris [err] is to be found in the Blue Peter garden.
CG: Mh-hm.
BD: He’s of course a gardening expert. In the past he’s been Head Gardener of Westminster Abbey and also one of the leading horticulturalists in the country and also we have Michael Holmes. Now Michael you’ve seen on TV as well many times BBC’s Trading Up also an editor of many property magazines and [err] Michael you’re gonna' help us with all the property questions here,
MH: That's it.
BD: over the next [err].
MH: I do believe Chris and I have actually [err] done quite a few shows together as well so. [err]
CC: Yeah we have yeah, we have done an indoor and outdoor show before haven’t we? Yeah.
BD: Well I tell you what we’re gonna' really make you work now because [erm]
CG: [laugh]
BD: we-we got you watching there at home we’re looking forward to getting your questions a little later online. It is of course an interactive shoe be we’re only here for less than half an hour now so lots of questions to get through but first of all this is busy time of year isn’t it guys? Just not with the property but also with that garden.
CC: Sure everything's starting to move now as far, I look out the window and you see the gardens coming back to life so you can’t ignore it anymore can you like you could for those stark winter months?
BD: It's actually quite a nice tidy time of year because the weeds haven’t come though yet
CC: Yeah.
BD: everything’s looking pretty good, pretty
CC: It's got that freshness about
BD: fresh. Yeah.
CC: it. Yeah. Yeah. We can aid that, we can move that along you know it's a good time to get out and just, yeah it's like indoors it's outdoor it's a spring clean time really.
BD: But though yeah, why is that though Michael? Also that we think is this because it's the advent of a new year whatever and we’re feeling that we need to start afresh and clean the house up?
MH: I think that's it I mean from the outdoor perspective it's the fact that the suns finally come out we’ve finally got a few dry days so we can get outside and start to tidy up the garden because of course it's not gonna' be long before we get put barbeques out and start inviting friends
CC: Yeah.
MH: I-I-I’ve had my first barbeques already in fact
CC: [laugh] Yeah.
MH: as couple of weeks back.
CC: You suddenly remember that outdoor room that you’ve got haven’t you, really you know. Your gardens your outdoor room isn’t it and you don’t, you tend to not use it much in the winter so it's great to get out there again. Yeah.
BD: But of course property I suppose suffers a bit I mean I know we haven’t had a really hard winter but there are quite a few maintenance issues to address now that the weathers getting better.
MH: Absolutely I mean the elements are what destroys the house on the outside.
BD: Yeah.
MH: I mean they’ve gotta' stand put obviously quite a lot the sun is incredibly powerful and that-that eats away at the paintwork, ultraviolet light is very, very powerful and does a lot of damage so you’ve gotta' make sure you stay on top of it. Of the damp is the killer particularly for timber. If damp gets into wood natural decay Chris will know about that.
CC: Yes
MH: We rely on that damp to actually help wood [err] rot in-in the forest, but
BD: Yeah.
CC: It's a natural progress it for them. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: Exactly. But of course damp
MH: But in terms of the windows of your house it's not so good.
CC: Yeah
BD: Absolutely.
MH: So.
BD: And also damp causes rust and that’s where WD-40 comes in.
CC: Yeah.
BD: Because that’s great
MH: Quite.
BD: rust repellent and also it-it-it just cleans it too doesn’t it?
MH: Absolutely.
BD: It cleans it all off.
MH: And particularly for your garden tools and that.
CC: Yeah. And for ex-, things like shears, secateurs, this kind of thing you know like anything rusty like this.
BD: Yeah. We’ll have a look at those a bit later actually.
CC: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and that, so that’s perfect WD-40 for it. Yeah.
BD: Okay. Well [err] this is as I say an interactive show so we’re really looking forward to getting your questions here live online. All you have to do is look at the box below put in your question and then press the send button and it comes through to this screen here and then I’ll be able to address the [err] the question to our two experts. So we’re looking forward to hearing from you over the next [err] few minutes or so. So do please get those questions coming in. Now [erm] we’re gonna' start Michael with-with the house actually and [erm] all those, we do get a big list of things to do. Now Maureen she's [erm] [err] contacted-contacted us she says “How do I stop everything in my house squeaking at night? I've got teenagers all I can here when I’m trying to sleep is”
CC: [laugh] You can’t stop teenagers squeaking.
MH: Exactly.
BD: “or the mice”. But the doors and the floorboards they tend to move around. Now is that because maybe things are hotting up? Well not really 'cos the heating of course is on during the winter isn’t it?
MH: Old houses move actually. Old houses tended not to have been built on foundations that’s the sort of concrete strips that we think of nowadays they just built them on the ground or at best put a few rocks down so there is natural movement and they’re quite flexible they’re allow for that movement but one of the consequences is you do get squeaks. [laugh] You do get the bangs,
BD: Yeah.
MH: you do get the knocks, it's part of the character of an old house. So probably not something you should try and do anything about in a traditional property. Squeaky doors however if it's just squeaky hinges it's a case of getting the lubricating basically.
BD: What-what about plumbing or anything like that I mean?
MH: Plumbing, knocking plumbing.
BD: Yeah.
MH: Now that is a case of basically you can drain-drain the whole system out, if you’re not confident doing this yourself get a plumber to do it.
CC: Yeah.
MH: Absolutely. Yeah. Drain the whole system flush it out
BD: Right.
MH: Flush the whole thing out get rid of all those basically it's build ups of rust and corrosion. Flush the whole system out, refill it, put a new inhibitor in here as well, get the inhibitor levels right, and then hopefully you’ll get rid of the knocking sounds.
BD: Okay. Well Michaels our property expert here and [err] we’ve got quite a few property questions in this first part but
MH: Yeah.
BD: of course I now that [err] [laugh] Chris will chip in with quite a few [erm] [err] view points as well. “Now can I use WD-40” Henry says “on plastic hinges on my windows? Does it corrode anything? I’m happy to use it in the garden” which of is
MH: Yeah.
BD: of course a great place to use it “”but [erm] I’m worried about using it inside sometimes?” Michael?
MH: It won’t destroy your plastic it won’t eat into the plastic so yes you can use it to [err] lubricate the plastic hinges just as you can on doors, locks anything that squeaking away kitchen doors as well, draws actually fantastic.
CC: Very versatile.
MH: But it's interesting you say that 'cos Chris
CC: Yeah.
BD: I-I‘d have thought that WD-40 is very much of an outside solution and I would be quite,
CC: I think it's so.
BD: obviously for locks maybe inside the house or
CC: Sure
BD: or squeaky hinges. But you think hang on is that gonna' stain things is it gonna' damage the wood work?
CC: Yeah.
BD: Is it corrosive itself
CC: Sure. Yeah.
BD: you don’t know if it, if it's cleaning off rust.
CC: Well not at all it's very versatile. I think don’t, I don’t people really realise how [err] how versatile it is, you can use it for massive reasons both indoor and outdoors.
MH: 2000 odd. 2000 reasons apparently,
CC: Yeah.
BD: Is that right?
MH: and growing.
BD: Right. And so that would be the ideal thing then to use the WD-40 on plastic hinges not-not a problem at all.
MH: There are so many internal uses people necessarily don’t think of it for these purposes but for instance stainless steel is a really popular.
CC: Also it protects doesn’t it. You [err] like if you use it on tools it will coat, it will leave a film on so if you wash it.
MH: Exactly.
CC: Wash your spade spray it over with WD-40 it forms a protective layer so that means you’ll get bit-bit longer use out of it.
MH: Easier to clean afterwards
CC: Yeah.
MH: but the very same principle applies inside. So nowadays stainless steel fridges, cookers in fact even stainless steel worktops are very popular, very easy to have lots of nasty fingerprints, grease marks all over it
BD: Yeah.
MH: Bit of WD-40 a thin coat in there. Not only does it clean it up and polish it but it stops those finger prints from forming the first place.
BD: Did you now I didn’t realise that, I didn’t realise 'cos I think some people would be very nervous about spraying it onto their brand new stainless steel.
MH: Safe and you know completely harmless as well.
BD: And-and as you say harmless,
MH: I wouldn’t suggest you eat it.
BD: what about [erm] [laugh] yeah all right. But [erm] in terms of safety if it gets on your hands or whatever it's-it's perfectly safe just wash it off?
MH: Absolutely. Yeah. It's not.
BD: Yeah.
CC: Yeah. As long as you wash your hands afterwards it not a problem is it really. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: All right lets [erm] [err] a-again another one about [err] property. Quite a general question but it's interesting 'cos at this time of year people start to think about moving and selling their properties “How do I increase the value of my home relatively cheaply, I want to sell in the next few months?” says Mike. Now it's a big question I know but are there lots of little things you can do?
MH: Yeah. I mean basic make, a makeover of the property can transform the place and add five, ten percent to the value of the property. For that to work really you’ve got to have a place that's fairly tired and run down. So buyers at the moment would come in and think ‘well it’s a built too much work’ so there wouldn’t be too much bidding for it, if you can solve those problems so that every buyer who comes in or potentially interested buyers decide they’re gonna' make an offer increases the value. So it really is the simple stuff like air.
CC: Mmm.
BD: But surely. Yeah. I mean tell tale signs of rust the hinges or whatever. [err]
MH: Absolutely. Yeah.
CC: Even in, even in the garden if you think about it.
BD: Yeah.
CC: Some, if you look at the garden, you look at the shrubs and trees in it, you look at the dead wood in it cut that out, just basically real-real simple tiding up operations. Are there leaves still in the borders?
BD: Yeah.
CC: These are all the sort things you’re gonna' notice straight away isn’t it?
MH: It's is. It's first impressions that really count and when people rollup to a property they do decide whether they want the place within the first few seconds. Obviously there’s not a lot you can do about the location however the impression that people get of the location is influenced but for instance litter in the front garden.
BD: Sure
MH: I've seen empty beer cans, I mean that sets the completely wrong impression.
BD: But surely you’ve got to be careful not to spend too much money because some people will go and change the bathroom or whatever and realise of course that the-the new owners will go and change it straight away.
BD: Change it again. Yeah.
MH: Chris and I [err].
BD: So what you want to do is showcase it as potential if you want to change it.
CC: Yeah.
MH: Chris and I did what was it twenty shows together
CC: Yeah.
MH: and the budget was just a few hundred pounds,
CC: Yeah.
MH: and we had basically two days to transform a property. Chris did outside, I did inside and really it’s about-about legwork, elbow grease.
CC: Yeah.
BD: So what was the budget roughly?
MH: He had to do, he had to do his work,
BD: The garden?
MH: I did. My budget was [laugh].
CC: Yeah. Yeah. It was. Yeah. It was incredible. Yeah.
BD: And that made a big difference?
MH: And I had to pay for your sandwich as well.
CC: Well, Yeah you did yeah. [laugh] It’s like no-no I think what it is, is like you know you look at the aesthetics. You can, you can it's amazing how much you can achieve by just looking at plants pruning them properly, edging up a lawn say a lot of people let their lawn grows into the borders, all these sort of things and you know
BD: Yeah.
CC: as long as you’ve got the tools you can do that without cost really.
BD: Yeah.
MH: Pressure wash the deck, the terrace.
BD: Listen we could, we could go on and on couldn’t we?
CC: Yeah.
BD: But we haven’t got a lot of time [erm] and we’re getting some great questions thank you very much for sending your questions through online to us. James he’s been painting the panel door in his living room [err] has problems when the paint runs. Any tips of how to stop this.
MH: Don’t over load the brush, of course you can, the easy solution is to buy non-drip paint.
BD: Right.
MH: [laugh] Which [err] you know but if you don’t overload the brush in the first place and then if you work from the top downwards you paint out any drips that you do form as you go. [erm] Some people actually [err] even put a little thing around their paint brush like an old coffee pot lid to catch the drips if they’re painting above themselves stops covering themselves in paint [laugh] which is quite easy to do.
BD: What about [erm] the-the worst thing about [err] painting is of course the paint brushes. Some is soluble in water but does WD-40 work for that?
MH: You can be sure when you come round to doing a bit of paintwork every winter or every spring actually that [erm] every paintbrush you’ve got hard because maybe the kids have got hold of it and haven’t bothered cleaning it.
CC: Yeah.
MH: That's certainly the situation at my house. What do you go out and buy a new brush or get some WD-40 on the brush
CC: It softens it right up.
MH: and it will actually soften it, clean it, clean it back [err]
BD: Does it? Does it actually clean the paint off as well?
CC: Yeah.
MH: It does.
BD: Really
MH: It does indeed. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: So this-this is yet another use for WD-40.
BD: Yeah. Yeah. One of the [laugh].
MH: It's worth having a tin hanging around and you know just.
CC: It is.
BD: So the white spirit actually may not be necessary. This really does work a treat.
MH: White spirit does work eventually but you have to leave it forever to soak
BD: Yeah.
MH: this stuff will get if off very quickly
BD: So it
MH: it just displaces the paint somehow.
BD: Well if this, if this cleans paint then it, we mentioned earlier it can clean kitchen surfaces,
MH: Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: areas, ovens,
MH: Any washable surface basically.
BD: fridges, stainless steel. Can you give us an idea I mean what-what for example what if you’ve got any scuffing on the wood work or whatever does it does it work [on woodwork?
MH: Anything, any washable surface. So if you’ve got shoe, the classic is you get shoe polish on a wooden floor, on a nice floor.
BD: Right who’s got, who’s got the clean shoes around here? All dirty shoes this morning.
MH: I can, I can probably get a bit of a mark on there
BD: Yeah. See if you can do a.
MH: if I can slip my shoes off. Good job I put clean socks on.
CC: Sorry mate. [laugh]
BD: There we are then.
MH: There you go nice bit of shoes polish on there.
BD: Yeah.
MH: And [erm] I mean if I try to get that off with a tissue you know it's [scrubbing] a bit of it's coming off but it's gonna' take a bit of elbow grease but
BD: Yeah.
MH: stick a bit of the old [err] WD-40 on it. This a real one?
BD: See there again I didn’t realise that.
CC: A real one mate. Yeah. [laugh]
BD: That's a funny [erm] I’ll talk about that lid, that top in a minute.
MH: It is that's a new one actually. Yeah. And that just comes straight off, the you know if the kids have got the old wax crayons out and drawn all over the walls.
BD: Yes
MH: Nice murals where [err] you don’t particularly.
CC: That will take that off as well yeah? Yeah.
MH: It will take that off as well, exactly. Yeah.
BD: What’s this [erm] applicator here then? What's that about?
MH: This is a new applicator, if you remember you used to get this straw with it
CC: Separately didn’t ya’.
MH: Separately and you’d be able to put it on it.
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
MH: Somebody’s invented a little device that when it's down it's just a regular spray nozzle.
BD: Yeah can you just hold that to the camera for a moment so we can see that.
MH: That's regular spray nozzle like that,
BD: Yeah.
MH: and then if you do that then [err].
BD: There we go you can more [err].
MH: You’ve got the, for direction. I mean for getting that into a lock or frozen.
CC: It's good if you had a lawn.
BD: Frozen car locks actually you know.
CC: Yeah. Lawnmowers you’ve got, you’ve got those bolts you get in, on the blades either side, the really, the nook and crannies that sort of things it's perfect for.
MH: It is. And I mean one of the, one of the things you’re tryna’.
BD: You mentioned a de-icer as well?
MH: You’re probably not meant to use it for that but it, [laugh]
BD: But you said frozen cars locks.
MH: it displaces water. I've used it for that before because I happened have it in the back of the boot.
BD: Yeah. Yeah.
MH: I used to use this stuff to [erm] 'cos the alternator on the car used to get damp. I think it was cracked, the distributor was cracked, a bit of this displaced that water on the connection bang the car.
BD: Right which brings in Chris because,
MH: Every time it rained my car used to stop. [laugh]
BD: Is that right? Yeah.
MH: I can afford a decent car these days. [laugh]
BD: But that is classic problem with lawnmowers isn’t it?
MH: Yeah.
BD: Particularly if you haven’t used the lawnmower for a while.
CC: Surely. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: How come a bit of that that WD-40 can get your lawnmower going again?
CC: Well it's magic stuff. Yeah. It's magic stuff, 'cos you tend to want to 'cos if you’ve got a cylinder mower what tends to happen is the bolts either side you’ve got like grease points, they tend to rust up over the winter and that stops the blade turning properly so a bit of WD-40 obviously it's a lubricant that’ll get things moving really. I mean in an ideal world if you weren’t so you know people were a bit more motivated you should go out a couple of times during the winter start the motor up and use this stuff on it then you’ll have no problems come the spring.
BD: Mmm.
MH: Chris is the sort of man who really looks after-after the tools. I think nowadays you can buy them for not very much money at all.
BD: It's. Yeah.
MH: But they’re not necessarily good quality.
CC: No, a good-good spade like, well I've had spade twenty years that should last you a life time if you look after it really. Yeah. So.
BD: Well that's.
MH: Ecological as well.
CC: Or a bit, with a bit of loving care like you know after it's used each one, it takes you five minutes to wash a tool down spray it with a bit of WD-40
BD: Yeah.
CC: And it's gonna last. Yeah.
BD: It's a good habit to get in to.
CC: Yeah.
BD: [erm] If you’ve got any mechanical questions, lawnmowers you’re happy to answer that in the next few minutes or so?
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
BD: Chris is here being a gardener, all rounder you have you know really know you're machinery and [err]
CC: Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: how to keep it clean and all in order but it's amazing how just a quirt of WD-40 can your lawn-lawnmower back to
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
BD: back to work again.
MH: On the spark plug just get
BD: On the spark plug, on the points,
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
BD: I've done that before. Now listen [err] Geraldine wants to know [err] again one for you Michael, needs to replace the windows in the home but worried about sound, insulation, and durability. Wood or UPVC type’s the best what do you reckon?
MH: Geraldine wood or PVC that is a classic question. [err] It depends really on what you like. If you’re tryna’ be ecological then it's timber every time if you’re looking for a solution that never gonna' need any maintenance then I’m afraid you’re probably gonna' go for PVC. But you’ve gotta' bear in mind that on a traditional property, period style property timber windows tend to have more delicate detailing and so also at that end of the market more expense [err] sort of property buyers tend to look for traditional timber windows plastic seems little bit down market.
BD: Even if you get a like a mock sash or something that looks?
MH: You can get very authentic looking PVC windows that do a perfect replication of the traditional window the problem is that they’re as expense as timber but if low maintenance is what you’re want
BD: Yeah.
MH: plastic is probably the way to go. But timber windows well caint, well cared for, well maintained will last forever.
BD: All right thank you very much. Excellent we’re getting some great tips here and [err] you’re watching us live online at the moment, if you’d like to send a question to the studio for our two experts all you have to do is [err] write your question there in the box there [erm] and tell your friends of course we’re on www. There’s a lot of “w’s” here actually.
MH: There are.
BD: 'Cos it's all the www.wd40.co.uk That is the website that what you’re watching on at the moment and other websites too but you can send you question in right now a [err] we’ve got our experts here anything to do with DIY, anything to do with your property or your garden they’re right here, Michael and Chris to answer your questions. So thank you very much. This is an interactive show online and we’ve got another question here [err] Louise wants to know this one for your Chris,
CC: Okay.
BD: “How much can a garden really affect the price of your property?” You did touch on that a little earlier.
CC: I did. Yeah. I well it can put, I mean it's up to £10,000 on a, on a decent landscape garden wouldn’t it. I mean I think you can, if you can, do [err] if you can spend a minimum amount on it you know I’d say you know it's little things you can do like, it's things like summer bedding you know this kind of thing or-or herbaceous plants which are quite cheap you can get from a garden centre. They’ll give you a lot of colour through the summer months as long as you get out there and give them a water they’re okay.
BD: Yeah.
CC: So that can make quite a big impression straight away and obviously if you’ve got if you put down a patio and a barbeque building then people start to see that as a outdoor space this all adds to the value of the property doesn’t it?
MH: Yeah. A garden can be the selling feature for some people
CC: Sure
MH: a really nicely landscaped garden can be the thing that just tips it for them, especially this time of year.
CC: Mmm.
BD: Okay but before we get another question Chris to keep that garden in order of course tools need to be looked after.
CC: Certainly. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: I know you’ve brought in a couple of tools with you. [erm]
CC: Well it's kind of like-like if you think like, if you’ve got things like hedging shears and things like I mean this WD-40 is absolutely i-ideal for that and this is the first maybe in about three of four weeks you’ll be looking at giving your hedge a first cut, especially if it's a box or something like that 'cos it grow quite quickly but straight away I mean you get want to get into these nook and crannies really. Anywhere where there’s bolt like that you just want to spray on that and that’ll keep them nice and lubricated. Secateurs.
BD: All right. Just why not, why not do a little bit for us.
CC: Yeah. Okay.
MH: [over talking] another one.
BD: So you’ve got some secateurs there.
CC: Yeah see they’re quite rusty, I mean they’ll probably need a bit of sharpen,
MH: Good sharpen.
CC: but literally [err] like you’ve got his spring loaded area here. [spray] So you just get in there like that.
BD: Okay. Just hold it to the camera there so we can see that.
CC: Yeah. Okay. So just in here like this [spray] and then obviously on the blade and that also not only will that lubricate it but that also provides a film which help protects the blade as well.
MH: Or stops the rust in the first place.
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
MH: But you need to sharpen them as well.
CC: You need to, they’ll need a bit of a sharpen these ones. Yeah. So I’d sharpen and lubricate the then they’re ready to go for the grow, for the growing season.
BD: Yeah. Okay.
CC: Yeah.
BD: Great excellent. So we’ve, so really not very much is applied.
CC: No. No. tiny little bit,
BD: It's just.
CC: it goes a long way, it goes along way. Yeah. Yeah.
MH: Presumably if you actually give it a coat before the winter you don’t get the rust in the first place?
CC: That's what, that's what I’m saying about it you should go out a couple of times during the winter and look-look over your tools and give them service, some with the mower and that sort that’s, that means that come the spring you’re not picking up everything that’s rusty and everything doesn’t work for you. So it's a good practice just to have a look you know forget the garden there.
BD: Yeah. Okay. That's good all right now we-we’re getting a question in here from Jules [erm] wants to know “I've been putting off clipping my hedges.” Don’t we all?
CC: Yeah.
BD: “When is the best time to start as they grow back so quick?” Now of course we’ve got to think about the birdlife too 'cos all the birds are thinking of nesting
CC: Sure. Yeah.
BD: we shouldn’t really leave it too late though I shouldn’t think.
CC: Well you see I-I think I mean it depends on what kind of species you’re gonna' use as well, something like a yew hedge will you know twice a year you’ll cut that, you’ll cut it one in, once in mid-June and once at the end of the year. Another things like box much more fast growing but I think you defiantly there's a good point you know look out if there are birds nesting this time of year just let them nest let the chicks come and you can do it a bit later. You’ll probably find that by sort of early June you’re looking at the-the hedge will be looking a little bit tatty especially if it's a privet which grows really-really quickly but yeah definitely keep a eye out for bird life and stuff.
MH: What about the danger of frost was well though 'cos there’s still a chance of a hard frost isn’t there?
CC: That-that’s
MH: Your leaves that can
CC: Sure.
MH: damage
CC: Especially stuff like box which is quite expensive plants but yeah I mean frost is natural prune basically I mean you’ll always get flush of growth and then you’ll get a frost and it’ll check it that a way, one way of getting plant to bush that’s all like, we’re just artificially doing that with a pair of shears really.
MH: I-I got a little bit over zealous and pruned a little bit too early and I've a bit of frost damage unfortunately.
DB: Well it.
CC: Yeah.
BD: Yeah. And also if [erm] if-if-if you prune a bit later in the year maybe September, October is that, is that a good time as well or will it start to grow back very quickly again and you start having to..
CC: Yeah. No I think you do a last cut of the year, you’ll do a last cut of the year basically. So you like if it's something like box or ligustrum privet that’ll grow fourth, you know four cuts a year. So you’re doing one in June, one in July, one in, and then you do one right at the end of the year so it's boxed off for the winter.
BD: Okay. As you say the frost could be a natural pruner but it depends what plant you’re talking about doesn’t it?
CC: Yeah. It does I mean there’s a.
BD: You could be talking about creepers, hedges or whatever
CC: Yeah. Sure
BD: so it depends on what you’re talking about.
CC: Yeah.
BD: All right lets go to Helen now she remembers her grandmother she used to have a trug
CC: Yeah. I remember the trugs.
BD: when she gardened. Do you remember trugs?
CC: Yeah. I remember, one of the first jobs I ever I had as a gardener was to [err] my Foreman Bobbies, I remember him well he used to send me out with a trug which is like wooden basket with a handle. [erm]
BD: That's it,
CC: Yeah. Like a curve.
BD: that's exactly what it is. In case you’re wondering what-what we’re talking about
CC: Yeah.
BD: A trug is just basically as gardeners companions really. It's like a little,
CC: Yeah. Yeah. It's like a. Yeah.
BD: little basket really.
CC: Sure and I used to, he used to send me out to collect gourds from the, from the dahlia border. So you know you go out there as a little apprentice aged seventeen get your trug but your gourds in and he used to varnish them and give them away as presents. That's very early memory for me that is.
BD: Can you still buy them though?
CC: You can. Yeah. There’s the one company in Sussex that specialises in making them. Yeah.
BD: So if you get into the website and I suppose put in trug you should be able to find it.
CC: You should be able to find it. Yeah. Yeah.
BD: Yeah.
CC: Mmm.
BD: Excellent. All right here we are some-some great tips coming here online at the moment good to have your questions. Phil he’s joining us online now he wants to know “I have a fifteen year old petrol mower that's finally given up the ghost.” Not bad is it fifteen years?
MH: Nah that’s pretty good.
BD: [err] Wondering about different alternatives for a mediums size lawn. [erm] If [erm] maybe he should move to-to one of those hover ones. You know which is.
CC: I don’t know I don’t, I don’t really rate them. I don’t really rate them I don’t think they [erm] you, I would go for something with a roller so that you get a nice heavy.
BD: You get the stripes
CC: You get the stripes and-and [err] just it will help, those mowers are a bit more chunky they’ll help tiller up the grass. 'Cos what grass does it tillers it sends out runners like this and if you’re cutting it nice and thickening it you’ll get much thicker sward.
BD: Right. [err]But does-does it do any dam-, I mean when you say you’re not so keen on the hovers is it maybe not as good for the grass?
CC: Is it, no I don’t think so, I mean they still do a job but I just prefer a heavier mower basically.
MH: I like a stripy lawn.
CC: Yeah. Yeah. You know that, so if you get one with a roller on you can get a nap on it and you get you know and it's just more fun basically. [laugh]
BD: Yeah. Sure, sure. All right that's good Phil I hope that [err] sorts your problem’s out there. Fifteen year old petrol mower that's done pretty well actually.
CC: It has yeah
BD: Look like the WD-40’s come into use, into use over the last few years. That’s great. Keep your questions coming in on line we’ve got [err], we’ve got our experts here all about DIY and of course the garden so [err] do log-on and we’re with you on www.wd40.co.uk. And we’ve just been showing you just how WD-40 works whether it's tidying up the old [erm]
CC: Secateurs.
BD: tools, some the-the rusty garden utensils going or of course as a cleaning agent. I mean it's got as we mentioned earlier so many uses and purposes.
CC: Mmm.
MH: When I was a kid they, I had somebody tell me it was actually rocket fuel. [laugh] And [erm] it's not a million smiles off 'cos actually WD-40 stands for Water Displacement and it was the 40th recipe they tried before they cracked it.
CC: So that's where the name comes from. Aye. Yeah.
BD: Yeah.
MH: But they-they actually did invent it for NASA I think it was. For rockets
BD: Is that right?
MH: so that when they flew through the atmosphere the electricals
BD: Yeah.
MH: still worked in the damp conditions.
CC: Mmm.
BD: Great case of where
MH: It's rocket science.
BD: Yeah, and where-where science and research in space really does pay off for every day life. It's amazing.
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
BD: [err] Bob wants to know “I want to start cutting grass but it still seems too damp and full of worm casts, is there an ideal-ideal time of day to cut the grass?” Well.
CC: Well not really no, it's just when it dry’s really. I-I you know I prefer to cut the grass probably in the early afternoon do ya’ know what I mean, 'cos the dew will be lifted.
BD: Yeah. The dew’s gone.
CC: Yeah. Yeah. And if you’ve got trouble with worm casts I mean they’re a natural top dress so just get a bass, a besom like a broom made out of birch and just flick them in basically. Flick the 'cos they’re like a natural top dress so.
BD: Oh right.
CC: Yeah. But if it is really-really damp I would advise it 'cos you just smudge the grass basically and it won’t look that good. So wait for it to dry out.
BD: And it clogs up the mower as well.
CC: Yeah. So just wait till it dry, till it dries out. Yeah. Mmm.
BD: Have you seen any of the robotic mowers at all? Are they a bit if a?
MH: I've seen them [err]
BD: Do they work?
MH: featured I've never seen one actually work. You just leave the thing and it just.
CC: It supposed to actually cut. Yeah. Yeah.
MH: Presumably it leaves,
CC: Takes all the fun out of it really don’t it. [laugh]
MH: who take the t-, you know cuttings and
CC: Yeah. Yeah.
MH: that's the problem. Presumably it just leaves them where they are.
BD: Of course cuttings that another important thing, should you let them mulch into the ground or should you pick up and
CC: If you get, I mean it depends on how fussy you are. I wouldn’t personally I’d but them into the compost bin let them rot down and then put them out as mulch again the following sort of spring. [err] What happens if you leave the cuttings there then you get a, you’ll-you’ll get a lot of [err] thatch build up which is layer of dead grass and you tend, what gardeners tend to do is they’ll scarify that out in the autumn,
BD: Yeah.
CC: you know to get all the dead grass out in the autumn and again that helps the grass tiller. But all that, all those grass clippings don’t go to waste put them in the compost bin let them rot down and they can go, they go back onto the garden. Nothing is wasted.
BD: Yeah. Good excellent. Tom wants to know “I’ve just bought a house with an eighty foot garden, planning on completely overhauling the garden, what advice would you give me in terms of you know what to buy you know where to start? It’s just full of weeds at the moment.”
CC: Well I think the first thing you do is you get it, you get it turned over. Maybe you might, you need to get a rotorvate it, maybe turn it in, that kind of thing.
BD: Really just go through the whole thing and just
CC: Yeah. I would I’d go get it,
BD: plough it down.
CC: get it, get it down to soil. Yeah. Get it down to soil all the weeds and stuff you can put again build a compost bin put them in here. Try and get at them before they start flowering it good time of year, if you leave them to flower then you’re gonna' be weeding all summer so try and get at them now. But I would think seek some inspiration go to Kew Botanic Gardens, go to see visits gardens, even go out in the countryside find out what you like, and then I’d sit down with a paper and pen and I just, I would doodle away and I would come up with something
BD: But the other interesting this is Chris you can get some great software now can’t you
CC: You certainly can. Yeah. Or can just go.
BD: where you can just design our own garden
CC: Yeah. Yeah. I think what you should though I mean if you’re, if you’re a family man it's a really good activity for to get the kids involved. 'Cos like you get a bit of paper like you get them to draw a design they’re doing a bit of art, you’ve got to measure it it's a bit of mathematics, get out there as family unit and interact you know you get a bit of psychical education
BD: Yeah.
CC: don’t just sit in front of the telly you know get out and do it.
BD: That's right. Yeah.
CC: Mmm.
BD: Yeah. Good stuff excellent. Marcia that you very much for joining us Marcia she want to know “What should I be planting now in order to have a stunning colourful garden in the summer?”
CC: Well Marcia I tell you what if you want a nice [err] for not much expense what I’d go for is I’d go for a hardy annual border. And you know hardy annuals when you go to the shop right and you see seeds packets they’re displayed by HA and you can sow these straight into the ground. So dig your plot over you can do this in a pot as well you don’t have a, if you don’t happen to have a garden but dig it over get it down to a nice fine tilth I always call it like apple, the surface of apple crumble
BD: Yeah.
CC: You know that kind of finish on it. And then all you do is you literally sow straight into the ground and you so them in lines and the reason for that is simple because when the weeds start growing you want to know the difference between the weeds and the plants, so you sow them in lines adjacent to each other. They’ll need staking and a drink and a bit of weeding but as they grow up you’ll get a nice blaze of colour right through to the autumn.
BD: Good excellent did you get that? Good. Now one for you here Michael because again it is does-does touch in Chris’s expertise but here’s Robert he wants to put the house on the market wondering whether he should really improve or relay the front driveway to increase that value of the house. Is that, is that a good idea?
MH: I-I, it depends what he’s got down there at the moment. I mean block paving does look fantastic a lot of people love it. It's a nice attractive low maintenance finish and it is a job you can do on a DIY basis. Depends how bad is drive is really
BD: Mmm.
MH: I mean if it’s just-just [err] needs a good weed and clean you can actually pressure wash it clean it up perhaps, so it depends what you’ve got there at the moment but block paving is popular it's a good DIY job.
CC: Yeah. It is. Yeah. It looks smart as well. But leave a little of areas for planting you know you see a lot-lot, a lot of little gardens now where there’s just there’s no plants left at all.
MH: Concrete jungle.
CC: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that looks too harsh on the eye you know just have a little couple of pockets, little beds in, maybe get a cl-climber a bit of trellis just to soften it up little bit. Yeah.
BD: Good right some great tips coming in. Excellent thank you very mush Robert good luck with that. [err] It is an interesting time isn’t when people are thinking about selling their property but now so many people are thinking about staying put
MH: Absolutely
BD: because prices have got ridiculous.
CC: Yeah.
BD: [err] So there’s.
MH: Stamp duty, moving costs. Huge.
BD: Exactly. So people are now spending more time improving the properties
MH: Mmm.
BD: this is where you guys can come in and help.
MH: Estimated a million people, [err] very nearly a million people planning home improvement projects this year.
BD: Is that right?
MH: Unbelievable.
CC: Yeah. It’s a lot isn’t it. Yeah.
MH: Astonishing.
CC: And the good thing about staying still is obviously the gardening-gardening you need patience and it’s done over a long term, so it you’re staying put that means you can develop your garden. So.
MH: It is the most popular improvement actually, making over the garden.
BD: Right and now is the time to do it isn’t?
MH: Followed by kitchens and bathrooms.
CC: It is. Yeah. Yeah. Certainly. Yeah. I mean now if it’s starting to move you’re gonna' use it aren’t you. Like I said earlier it's an outdoor room you should be using it to it's full advantage.
BD: Good all right. Some top tips coming in weather it's DIY or your garden of course we’ve got the experts here Chris and Michael happy to take [err] you questions and by the way a bit later I’ll-I’ll remind you of this, that you can actually download a podcast on this watch it any time you like so I’ll just remind on how to do that [err] at the end. So lots of questions coming in all about property improvement looking after the garden we know that of course that spring does not only bring the grass growing but also the growing lists of things to do. And WD-40 of course is [err] one of the things we that [err] we’re talking about today which really has so many different uses. And staggering what I discovered actually was [err] the uses in the kitchen I really didn’t think about that Michael.
MH: Yeah. I know it's-it’s something you don’t necessarily think of because its probably kept in the garage but [err] have a tin on inside as well I suppose. [laugh]
CC: Yeah.
BD: I didn’t, I didn’t think about that.
MH: One little thing that-that’s quite interesting is on the mirror, if you’ve got mirror that steams up get very thin coat over the mirror.
BD: Mmm.
MH: Can’t see it, it doesn’t smear the mirror and the mirror doesn’t steam up anymore.
BD: There we are, on the mirror.
CC: That's a good one innit?
MH: Yeah.
BD: On the mirror as well.
MH: Yeah.
BD: [err] Anne Wigan [erm] she’s just joined us we did touch on this a little earlier about central heating making some knocking noises [erm] she says her husband he can’t fix himself, any ideas what it could be? Is that, you, we did talk about it a bit earlier.
MH: It will be be, I think it will be basically the-the build up in the system, corrosion basically, from the [err] from corrosion in the pipe or probably limescale, bits of limescale will have broken off and they’re just rattling round the system as it flows round banging the radiators, working their way through the radiators and so you get this knocking that travels around the house.
BD: Is this plumbing job then? Do you have to get a plumber into do it?
MH: You can drain it, you could drain it off yourself. You could flush it out yourself they might need to replace possibly the boiler possible some radiators if they’re really-really furred up but first of all try draining it, flushing it, replacing the [err] inhibitor topping it backup and replacing the inhibitor, see if that solves the problem. But if you can’t to that on a DIY basis which you can find some tips on line as how to do it,
BD: Mmm.
MH: on how to drain it off basically.
CC: Yeah.
MH: [erm] Get plumber on board its not gonna' cost you a huge amount of money’.
BD: Yeah. Better be careful I mean if you’re not.
CC: Better safe than sorry if you’re not too sure what's going on. Yeah. [laugh]
BD: If you don’t know what you’re doing then [err] it could be, it could be disastrous couldn’t and [erm] yes and there’d be a big falling out with Anne and her husband there in Wigan. [cough] [cough] And we don’t want them to do that do we?
CC: Nah, nah, nah. [laugh]
BD: And [erm] so-so for you Chris obviously this time of year is busy as well do you actually design gardens yourself?
CC: I do yeah. I tend to specialise in planting really that's what I-I’m botanically garden trained so my plant knowledge is my strength so I don’t tend get involved with the decking and the patios I tend to [err .
BD: I mean it interesting you know you say botanical garden, our climate is changing know that
CC: Yeah.
BD: or whether we’re just going through one of these cycles which happens every hundred years or so or whatever,
CC: Yeah.
BD: are people getting more exotic plants now, getting more adventurous with their plants do you think?
CC: Well I think I think its a combination really right of obviously we can grow stuff in the south that-that we maybe couldn’t have grown twenty years ago but also you’ve got to take, bear in mind globalisation you know you can get plants here you know from all over the world,
BD: Sure
CC: which that wasn’t happening before so.
BD: We’re getting Australians parakeets for goodness sake.
CC: That’s, yeah exactly. So you know so market availability has never been greater so that means people are more likely to experiment.
BD: Yeah. Guys look. Yeah.
MH: One problem is the [err] lawns growing brown in the summer because we seem to be getting an awful to of hosepipe bans but I did see recently a drought resistant grass.
CC: Yeah. I tell you. That is
MH: Is that a bit of a gimmick or does it work?
CC: No, maybe I don’t know I haven’t come across it but I tell you one thing is that it's all about how cort-, short you cut it. I lot of people short-, cut their grass-grass far too short.
BD: Mmm.
CC: 2.5 cms is enough. And when I worked on Brighton Parks they used to cut the grass really sort on Preston Park and I would go yellow in the summer.
BD: Yeah.
CC: And down in the Pavilion End we used to leave to 2.5 cms, it never went yellow.
BD: How interesting.
CC: So length of grass, length of grass is essential.
MH: But the, and also, but the grass never dies eventually dies it?
CC: No it just rests.
MH: It's just goes brown, it rests, so don’t worry about.
CC: Yeah. [laugh]
BD: Now [err] Stephanie wants to know very quickly, this is out last I can’t believe we got to the last question here, Stephanie “Moved into a four hundred year old house with oak doors, has tried everything they still creak these oak doors” do Michael “a long with most of the floorboards. Any remedies?” [laugh]
MH: The hinges you can solve yeah. I mean you can, you can lubricate the hinges back to WD-40 just a good lubricant will stop the hinges from squeaking, as for the squeaky floorboards in a new house you might want to screw them down to the joist in an old house I wouldn’t recommend you do that, I’d just leave it and take it and take it as part of the character of the house.
CC: Yeah. Yeah. Lucky enough to have oak doors, hey. Yeah. Yeah.
MH: As long as they’re safe, as long as the floorboards are safe and not loose obviously but [err] if you really insist on it you could actually screw them down you could and then ideally you’d cut a little timber cap out of something, out of an off cut or something like that and conceal the screw head. But leave it alone it's part of the character of the house is my view apart from the doors.
BD: Okay Michael Holmes, Chris Collins you’ve been brilliant thank you very much.
Both: Thank you Bill.
BD: Looking forward to seeing you on the telly again in the near future.
MH: That's for all the questions.
BD: On your various projects. Yeah. And yeah great thank you for answering them. Thank you for taking part in our n line chat today. [err] As I mentioned a little bit earlier you can down load podcast all you have to do is go to the website which is www.wd40.co.uk download the podcast and you can see lots more of this programme and of course lots and lots of tips too. So do log-on to that and tell you friends as well. I think it will very handy and it’ll out of yourselves [laugh] out of a lot of problems. So thanks very much for watching us and [err] looking forward to seeing you again soon. And good luck with all the DIY and all the gardening work. Spring has arrived enjoy it.
