KEYS TO KNOW

Where is it: The Firs, Orchil Road, Auchterarder.

What is it: An Arts and Crafts influenced house with five bedrooms, four pubic rooms, in a beautiful mature garden.

Good points: Most of the house is very traditionally Edwardian, packed with beautiful features.

Bad points: While the impressive dining kitchen is in keeping with the rest of the house, it is not original.

Price: Offers over £675,000.

Contact: Strutt and Parker on 01738 783350.

Gbudgets.

At the pinnacle, you have the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with exotic blooms sculpted into mini-landscapes of breathtaking beauty showcased all this week for thousands of visitors.

The most talented horticulturalists compete to amaze us with their gardens of delight which have budgets that must run into the millions.

At the other end of the scale is me – popping an unnamed plant, simply described as a ‘Hardy Shrub’, into my trolley along with the groceries this week because it was reduced to £1.30.

I shall bung it into a random hole dug in the front lawn by the dog, and hope that my bargain somehow survives.

The fact that it doesn’t have a common name on the label – let alone a Latin nomenclature – I suspect means that, in terms of quality, it is the plant equivalent of a bottle of plonk labelled ‘Red Wine’.

But gardening is an expensive business and you have to make savings where you can.

For several years I have been growing fruit and vegetables in our village’s community polytunnel.

While the tomatoes and strawberries are indeed delicious, their value comes mostly in boasting rights, as the amount of money spent on seeds, compost and fertilizer means each has a virtual price tag that even the most discerning organic Waitrose shoppers would baulk at.

When it comes to landscaping our own garden, I can dream of a Ground Force-type makeover, but it would cost thousands.

And while a well-tended outside space will indeed add value to a property, when it comes time to sell, it irks me somewhat that all my hard work will