When in Rome: Swedish graphics meet Italian tiling in a joyful flat

Designer Liselotte Watkins raided flea markets across Europe to create a colourful jumble

When Liselotte Watkins moved with her family to Rome from Milan four years ago, it was in such a rush that she had time to look at only one apartment. The previous owner had lived there for 30 years, and wouldn’t let her take photographs, so “my husband, Jonas, had to take my word for it,” she says. It was painted dark colours and the layout wasn’t practical, but it was close to Jonas’s new job, a decent school for their children Wim, 10, and Ava, eight, and Villa Borghese park. Swedish-born Watkins, an artist, illustrator and designer who has collaborated with Prada, Marimekko, and the Italian porcelain company Bitossi, works from a studio at home.

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Alys Fowler: how to breed the perfect pumpkin

If you can grow pumpkins, you can breed them, says the Austrian who is creating the heirloom varieties of the future

Klaus Brugger loves pumpkins. In particular, he loves a certain flesh quality and the nutty flavour in winter squash, and because he is a curious type and a passionate gardener, the Austrian wondered whether he might be able to make his perfect pumpkin. I know this because his Instagram account (@klaus_brugger), which is full of pumpkin pinups, is documenting this journey. It’s a brilliant educational tour of how to go about creating your own vegetable varieties on a small scale.

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Gardening tips: plant pulmonarias

Then hack back honeysuckle and help a gardening charity

Pulmonarias flower this month right into May, offering a nectar-rich treat for bees. You can enjoy their silver-spotted foliage and their merit as a groundcover plant in shadier, damp borders. Cultivar ‘Diana Clare’ is one of the best, with its pinky-violet flowers. Height and spread: 40 x 40cm.

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We reveal five of the best property bargains this spring

They're real gems.

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Should I pay for a removal firm or hire a van myself?

We’re moving from our first-floor two-bed flat to a three-bed semi with a young baby

Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.

We’re moving two miles from our first-floor two-bed flat to a three-bed semi with our young baby. I can hire a large van and get some mates to help out, or I can go with a removal firm for about £450. My wife thinks it’s mad to do it ourselves, but we’re broke at the moment. Is she right?

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Tim Dowling: who has been bothering the garden centre fish? Not us

There’s a wall of CCTV stills of men. The youngest one looks at me, eyes wide. ‘What the hell did they do?’

It’s haircut day, that quarterly standing appointment when the hairdressing twins Kelly and Hayley come to our kitchen to do my wife’s highlights, and as many additional haircuts as there are heads. My wife still has a long morning ahead of sitting around in a foil helmet talking to Kelly and Hayley about coronavirus, but my hair is already cut and I’ve got places to be.

“When I successfully replaced that rotten trellis last week,” I begin.

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Tim Dowling: who has been bothering the garden centre fish? Not us

There’s a wall of CCTV stills of men. The youngest one looks at me, eyes wide. ‘What the hell did they do?’

It’s haircut day, that quarterly standing appointment when the hairdressing twins Kelly and Hayley come to our kitchen to do my wife’s highlights, and as many additional haircuts as there are heads. My wife still has a long morning ahead of sitting around in a foil helmet talking to Kelly and Hayley about coronavirus, but my hair is already cut and I’ve got places to be.

“When I successfully replaced that rotten trellis last week,” I begin.

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