A second volume of thought-provoking ideas from the author of The Daily Telegraph's 'Sceptical Gardener' column. What is the best way to kill weeds in paving? How scared should we really be of Japanese knotweed? And what is a weed anyway? Biologist Ken Thompson set out to write a different kind of gardening column, one that tackles what he calls 'the grit in the gardening oyster'. In this new collection he takes a look at some of the questions faced by gardeners everywhere in a bid to sort the truth from the wishful thinking. Why are the beaks of British great tits getting longer? Which common garden insect owns a set of metal-tipped running spikes? Why might growing orange petunias land you in hot water? Are foxes getting bigger? How do you stop the needles falling off your Christmas tree? This expert's miscellany of (mostly) scientifically-tested garden lore will make you look at your garden through fresh eyes. AUTHOR: Ken Thompson was for 25 years a lecturer in ecology at the University of Sheffield. He writes regularly on gardening for the Daily Telegraph. His previous book, The Sceptical Gardener (Icon, 2015), was described as 'a delight' by the Spectator.