I like to think that gardening is a 12 month affair and not to forget about the garden during the winter months. there are still plenty of enjoyable tasks to keep us busy

Get digging! Burn off those calories you've acquired from that bumper crop of potatoes you harvested. Seriously its a really good time to dig over the soil as the winter frosts will break it up and do the hard work for you. Depending on what crop you will planting in the spring spread on some farmyard manure or your own compost, organic matter and dig in.

During those long dark cold days its very pleasant to sit by the fire with a glass of wine (or two) and plan for next years garden. Great delight can be had, thumbing through the seed catalogues and drawing up a sowing and planting plan.

We never know from one year to the next what sort of a winter we are going to get. So it is difficult to know what to do for your plants during those winter months. I like to keep all the dead foliage on my perennials to protect from the frosts, but I know some of you like order and cleanliness and will want to trim it all away. That’s fine but put on a mulch over the crown which will do several things. It protects from severe frost and also feeds the soil because bacteria and worms etc bring the goodness into the soil.

Fleece is very useful in severe cold weather. Please bear in mind that 1 layer of fleece is equal to 1 degree of frost so if its -10ºc and you put 2 layers of fleece round the plant its equivalent of -8ºc. So I like to wrap numerous layers to be sure. I do get asked if polythene bubble can be used. Its only use is for wrapping around the pots and not the foliage.

Pot drainage is essential. Please put your pots on specially made feet or bricks etc. This will allow the excess water to drain away and will help to prevent root rot. When the soil in the pot freezes it expands and will break your pots if there is no drainage. ‘But I put my pot on gravel so that’s ok’. I often hear, but in practise its not good to do over the wet winter months because compost and other debris will gather around the base of the pot and form a suction ring, i.e. the water cannot escape and is sealed in. Especially important with glazed and plastic pots as they are not very porous whereas terracotta is.

If there is anything you would like us to address in this section as the season progresses please send us an email and we will make every attempt to include our advice on your selected area in future updates. .