Generally

This time of year is for tidying up, cutting things back and looking back over the year to observe your successes and failures in the garden. Hopefully learning from these!

• Wash flower pots and seed trays
• Trim back ivy, Virginia creeper and other climbers on walls that are close to gutters and window frames
• Test the pH of your soil with a kit and add lime if it’s too acidic
• Scoop leaves and debris from ponds and water features
• Remove pond pumps and filters to wash and store
• Look out for special offers on early orders from seed catalogues and in shops
• Wrap outside taps with insulation to prevent them freezing
• Treat fences and timber structures with stain or preservative. My favourite is Creosote!
• Welcome in the new growing season by decluttering your shed or garden store

In The Flower Garden

• Cut back overgrown honeysuckle
• Pick berried winter shrubs, flowers and evergreen leaves for seasonal decorations indoors
• Plant bare-rooted hedging, roses, trees and shrubs
• Pick faded flowers and yellowing leaves from pansies and winter bedding
• Prune the tops of standard roses to reduce wind rock
• Keep off lawns in frosty weather or if very wet
• Prune wisteria, shortening side shoots to 10-15cm from their base
• Check tree ties are secure
• Order dahlias, gladioli and other summer-flowering bulbs
• Tie in the stems of climbing plants to their supports

In The Fruit and Vegetable Garden

• Prune gooseberry bushes
• Fork over vacant beds, mixing in compost or well-rotted manure
• Plant fruit trees trained as cordons, fans or espaliers to make use of limited space
• Tie in raspberry and blackberry canes to support wires
• Lift and divide congested clumps of rhubarb (if you have any spare rhubarb I need some!)
• Take hardwood cuttings from healthy fruit bushes (ditto above!)
• Prune apple and pear trees to control their size and shape
• Cut down Jerusalem artichokes

In The Greenhouse

• Clear leaves from greenhouse gutters
• Check heaters daily to ensure they are working efficiently and that fuel levels don’t need topping up
• Pick off dead flowers and leaves
• Water overwintering plants such as pelargoniums or fushias sparingly
• Wash glass inside and out to let in more light
• Take root cuttings of perennials including phlox and oriental poppies
• Plant hippeastrum bulbs
• Use rainwater to keep the compost of potted azaleas constantly moist
• Ventilate greenhouses on warm, dry days