We don’t want to put you off. Oh no. While we’re enjoying our August bank holidays, the 4Homes team will lie back (metaphorically) and think of you all beavering away in the garden, laying a new deck, or up in the bathroom, replacing old taps. However, a word or two of warning. We’ve been told that we Brits pay a massive £1.5 billion to fix DIY jobs gone wrong. Worse still, 250,000 people suffer DIY-related injuries every year (I can prove that – I’ve got a damaged finger from the gardening I did last weekend).

So, while it may seem like a good idea to use the break to do that wallpapering or tile a floor, it’s also worth preparing properly to avoid those DIY disasters. Kensington Financial Management Consultants have rather handily supplied us with some tips to avoid throwing a spanner in the works:

1 Check your tools – make sure they are in good working order to avoid any mishaps. Check that equipment carries British or European quality or standard marks in the manual.

2 Know your limits – if you are unsure of the extent of the job, call in an experienced professional, which may work out cheaper as you won’t have to fork out for specialist tools.

3 Insure and be sure – check insurance policies to see what you are covered for in case of an accident (not as silly as it sounds…).

4 A rushed job is a botched job – take your time and don’t leave anything unfinished, or sharp tools lying around.

5 Finally, from the team at 4Homes – don’t do a thing until you’ve checked out our DIY advice pages.

Good luck – and let us know how it goes – at our Rate My DIY Disaster pages.

It’s not to say that I don’t do my share of digging – in the past year, I’ve laid a deck on my own, levelled and laid my own lawn, created raised borders and planted out 20 containers. So not lazy, then. However, when my back isn’t strained, I often find I just don’t have time to keep the garden looking good.

So, pretty happy that someone’s just sent me details of a company called The Balcony Gardener. I’ll warn you – it’s not desperately cheap, but in terms of how much time and effort you’ll save, it’s a bargain. The company plants up and delivers good-looking containers to help you create ready-made gardens. Choose from contemporary, edible and English country, among others. And, if you have got time to do it yourself, check out our plant galleries and garden design galleries, all on our gardening pages.

The garden has apparently been lost for 400 years, and it’s taken an expert team of archaeologists and gardeners over five years to recreate, using details found in a letter written by one of the staff responsible for the original.

I’ve been to the castle countless times, and it’s fantastic. It was a great day out before the garden restoration, and now I will be going back to have a stroll around in the sunshine. I’d recommend you do too – you may even pick up some inspirational garden design ideas to give your own outside space a makeover in time for summer.

To find out more about the Elizabethan Garden at Kenilworth Castle, check out this BBC video, or the English Heritage website.