Many of you will be starting to fill up hanging baskets, tubs and window boxes this weekend.

Don't spend a lot of money on those water retaining granular products which cost an absolute fortune. Sprinkle some wallpaper paste flakes or granules into the compost and they will take up and retain the water right through the season.

An added bonus is that most of them even contain a natural fungicide which will help to keep your plants healthy.

This is particularly good for starting off seedlings, but in this case the wallpaper paste must be made up first and then mixed into the compost. Just don't try growing mushrooms in it!!!

Happy gardening folks!