Nature is Calling

A UK-specific guide to closing an above ground pool for winter: when to do it, whether to store or winterise in place, the chemicals that matter and how to keep frost from wrecking your pump.

One bag repots a fussy prayer plant that pushes out new leaves for weeks. Another hatches fungus gnats into every pot in the flat. We read the 100 most recent UK reviews to find out how often each happens, and what the 4.4-star badge doesn't tell you.

Two handles, a push-fit rose head and 6.5 litres of capacity, yet 18 of the last 100 UK buyers gave it one star. What separates a perfect greenhouse can from a soaked windowsill turns out to be the luck of the seals.

One buyer filled the feeder at 7pm; by 10am it was stripped bare. RSPB's 50-ball suet box has that effect on gardens, and the 100 most recent reviews explain why it happens, where the box falls short, and what quietly changed in the packaging.

One in ten of the most recent buyers left this budget steel obelisk a single star. Sixty-four in a hundred gave it five. The gap is not down to luck: it comes from how you build the thing and where you stand it.

Going away and worried your containers will fry? This UK guide matches how long you are away and how hot it will be to the right method, from a free deep soak and shade through DIY drippers and wicking to a drip kit on a timer.

Chilli seeds want 25C to wake up. A UK windowsill in March gives them 14C. We read 75 reviews of the EarlyGrow propagator to see whether its warm-but-uneven tray closes that gap, and where growers put the chillies.

Extendable handles promise the top of the hedge without dragging out a ladder. After 100 UK reviews of the Spear & Jackson 8120RS, here is how much reach you actually gain, and the one plastic part that keeps breaking.

Squirrels can empty a feeder before lunchtime. This UK guide works through the fixes in order of cost, starting with free repositioning, then baffles and weight-activated feeders, then the food swaps, and flags the popular tricks that quietly harm birds.

The packet makes two promises: no birds, and no cabbage white butterflies. Only one of those survives contact with a hundred UK reviews.

"Best compost on the planet" and "equivalent to Teflon": both verdicts came from UK buyers of the same Pelle & Sol compost within a month of each other. We read all 100 recent reviews to work out which bag you're likely to get, and when the 10L size does and doesn't make sense.

Wilkinson Sword sells these on 850mm handles that let you edge a border standing up. So why do the only two featured reviewers who discuss those handles in detail both have reservations, and why does the listing give two length figures without saying how they relate?