Britain's £2bn gardening bill

Forget a patch of tatty grass and a few roses - increasingly houseproud Britons spend £2 billion a year keeping their gardens pristine.

And one in five hire experts rather than do the work themselves, says a survey of 1,000 people.

The gardening boom is attributed to the success of such TV programmes as Ground Force and Home Front in the Garden.

But almost half those quizzed admitted to having only rudimentary garden skills, such as how and when to prune plants.

Londoners are the least green-fingered - more than a third said they lacked any garden knowhow. As a result, weeds creep up, plants die, and the householder often resorts to help from professionals.

Nigel Colborn, of BBC Gardeners' World, said: "There's nothing really difficult about gardening. The more you learn, the more wisely you spend.

"By all means get an expert at first, that could save time and money, but if you have natural green fingers, you'll be hooked."

The research was by internet bank cahoot.