Sources named
Figures come from manufacturer specifications, published standards or retailer listings, each dated so you can check it yourself.
Look at our comparisons →How Home Garden decides what to tell you, and what it leaves out
Every article states the month it applies to, says plainly when a job can wait, and names the source behind any figure it uses. Where a job needs a qualified tradesperson, it says so.
How this site is put together
What brought you here
Most visitors arrive with one specific question: whether a job needs doing this weekend, or whether it can safely wait until next month. Home Garden is built around that moment, answering the practical point first and setting out the reasoning underneath it, so the useful part isn't buried under several paragraphs of scene-setting.
How the guidance is worked out
Each article on garden maintenance or home maintenance follows the same shape: a plain answer, then the reasoning, then the exceptions that might change it. Where a job's timing shifts by region, soil type or the age of a building, that's stated directly rather than flattened into one date that suits nowhere in particular.
- Timing stated plainly. A month or a month range is given.
- Terms explained once. A word like scarifying or pointing gets a brief explanation the first time it appears, then gets used properly afterwards.
- Uncertainty left in. If a job's timing genuinely depends on your soil or your particular building, that's said plainly rather than smoothed into one confident line.
What this site will not do
Home Garden discusses categories and methods, so you won't find brand comparisons or price tables here, because that isn't the kind of question this site is set up to answer. It also won't tell you a job is fine to do yourself when it genuinely needs a qualified tradesperson, even where that's the less convenient answer.
- No named products, prices or retailer recommendations.
- No claim to have tested, trialled or reviewed anything.
- No urgency added to a job that can honestly wait.
Who it's written for
The assumption throughout is that you can use a lawn mower and hold a screwdriver, but haven't necessarily trained as a gardener or a builder. Technical terms appear where they're the right word for the job, explained plainly the first time and used properly afterwards. If a question doesn't fit neatly into a single month, the comparisons section sets out the options side by side, including what each one is bad at.
Questions about an article, or about something it got wrong, can go through the contact page.
Sourced and dated
Where a figure comes from a manufacturer specification or a published standard, the source and date are named so you can check it yourself.
No product endorsements
Categories and methods are compared.
Timing stated plainly
A month or a month range is given wherever a job is time-sensitive.
The principles behind what we publish
A short look at how guidance gets written, what sources back it, and where we stop short of promising more than we know.
No brands, no fabricated tests
We do not name products, prices or retailers, and we do not claim to have tested or reviewed anything ourselves.
See how to reach us →DIY jobs versus professional ones
Some repairs are safe to do yourself; others, like damp-proofing or roofing work, need a qualified tradesperson regardless of confidence.
Look at home maintenance guidance →Editorial approach and what we will not do
Every article on Home Garden starts with a question someone is actually asking in a particular month, such as whether to prune roses in October or whether a cracked pointing joint can wait until spring. The practical answer comes first, then the reasoning behind it, because a reader who has searched their way to the page wants the point before the background.
Where the detail comes from
Where a figure or a recommendation comes from a manufacturer's specification, a published standard or a retailer listing, this site names the source and the date it was checked, so a reader can look it up. That is different from saying the site has tested or trialled anything: it has not bought, measured or used the products it writes about, and it does not claim to have done so.
Where the answer depends on soil type, building age or which part of the country you're in, the article says so rather than settling on one confident answer that only fits some readers. A gardener in Aberdeen and one in Kent work to different calendars, and the advice should reflect that to stay useful.
What this site will not do
- Recommend a named brand, product or retailer, or quote a price
- Invent urgency, or tell you a job cannot wait when it actually can
- Suggest a task is DIY-friendly when it actually needs a qualified tradesperson, such as work near a damp-proof course or anything on a roof
- Publish reader testimonials, star ratings or visitor counts to imply a popularity nobody has measured
Why the plain answer matters more than a confident one
Comparing two roofing materials or two lawn treatments is more useful when the weaknesses sit alongside the strengths, which is why the option comparisons on this site set out what each choice is bad at, not just what it suits. Telling the difference between a job you can do yourself and one that needs a professional, covered more fully on the home maintenance pages, matters for the same reason. Getting that distinction wrong costs a good deal more than getting a paint colour wrong.