If you want your garden to look its best, leave it to the wife, a study has found.
Despite traditionally being a man’s domain, women are better at choosing, arranging and tending to flowers, planting hanging baskets and choosing garden ornaments.
Men, on the other hand, are better at cutting the grass, tending to the vegetable patch and looking after the patio and decking.
Fixing and painting fences, digging flowerbeds and building a shed or greenhouse should also be left to the man of the house.
Gary Philpotts, spokesman for Roundup weed killer, which carried out the study of 2,000 adults, said: ”Traditionally, the garden has been thought of as the man’s responsibility.
”But it seems many now think women are the best at making sure the lawn and flower beds look nice.
”However, men haven’t been completely pushed out of the garden as it seems to be their job to prepare the garden, as well as tackling the bigger jobs such as maintaining the fences and decking.”
The study revealed three quarters of Brits enjoy pottering around in the garden, with 17 per cent saying they love every job involved in keeping the backyard in tip-top condition.
Choosing shrubs for the garden was found to be the most enjoyable garden task, followed by arranging the plants in the garden and planting them.
Planting and picking home-grown vegetables and trimming back flowers and plants are also popular among Brits.
But tending to the garden is a time consuming job with the average Brit spending the equivalent of three days, 12 hours and 43 minutes each year keeping it at its best.
During the winter months of October to February, an average of four hours and eight minutes is taken up each month tending to the lawn and plants, weeding and getting the garden ready for the spring.
And once the summer arrives, gardeners spend nine hours and nine minutes a month making sure it is looking pristine, with almost two hours taken up with planting, watering flowers and keeping them trimmed back.
Another hour and 45 minutes of each month goes on cutting the grass, while an hour and 51 minutes is taken up with pulling out weeds.
Two hours is spent generally pottering around and keeping the garden tidy, with just over an hour-and-a-half spent tending to vegetable patches.
Gary, added: ”Eighty four per cent of British adults have access to a garden or somewhere to grow outdoor plants, which is a huge proportion of the population.
”And since the bleak economic gloom began people are spending more on the gardens as result of going out less frequently.
“It’s only natural that men and women adopt different roles in the garden, similarly to housework and DIY.
“Our sales have shown that more and more women are purchasing a weed treatment in order to make life a litter easier in the garden, so they can get on doing the jobs they enjoy.”
JOBS WOMEN ARE BEST AT:
Weeding
Choosing plants or flowers for the garden
Arranging flowers or plants in flowerbeds Planting flowers or plants Dead-heading
Trimming/cutting flowers or plants
Watering flowers/plants
Planting hanging baskets
Maintaining hanging baskets
Arranging garden ornaments
Generally keeping a garden clean and tidy
JOBS MEN ARE BEST AT:
Cutting the grass
Digging flowerbeds
Digging and preparing a vegetable patch
Planting vegetables
Watering vegetables
Laying a patio
Laying decking
Varnishing or painting decking
Fixing/putting up fences
Painting a fence
Taking rubbish from the garden to the tip Cleaning outdoor furniture Building a shed or greenhouse Sweeping up leaves
Top ten most popular gardening jobs:
1.Choosing flowers or plants for the garden
2.Arranging flowers or plants in the garden
3.Planting flowers or plants
4.Water flowers or plants
5.Picking vegetables
6.Planting hanging baskets
7.Cutting the grass
8.Trimming/cutting flowers or plants
9.Planting vegetables
10.Dead-heading
