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January
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Add organic matter to light sand and clay soils
Dig up and divide rhubarb
Order seed potatoes
Plant young vines, black, red and white currants
Protect winter crops
Flower garden tasks
Add organic matter to light sand and clay soils
Clear leaves and burn or dispose of garden waste
Protect frost prone shrubs and plants with fleece
February
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Apply organic matter to the base of fruit bushes and fruit trees
Sow main crop onion seed or plant onion sets outdoors
Sow parsnips towards the end of the month
Dig trenches for celery and leeks
Flower garden tasks
Sow sweet pea and aquilegia seeds in a cold frame or unheated green house
Take pelargonium, fuchsia and perpetual carnation cuttings in the greenhouse
March
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Cut back the top growth of newly planted raspberry canes to about 20cm/8in
Fork the soil and mulch strawberry beds
Sow Brussel sprouts, broad beans, lettuce and radish seed
Plant root cuttings ‘thongs’ of Seakale
Flower garden tasks
Sow hardy annuals under cover
Ensure roses are firmed in properly if they have been rocked by wind in winter
Apply organic matter to rose beds
Plant and divide herbaceous perennials
Tie in untidy climbers and stake herbaceous plants
April
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Divide chives and mint
Plant globe and Jerusalem artichokes
Sow broccoli seed outdoors
Plant out second early and main crop potatoes
Plan out and build an asparagus bed; plant asparagus crowns
Flower garden tasks
Plant out sweet peas and pansies
Sow both perennial and biennial plant seed in a nursery bed
Sow coriander seed in pots
Lift bulbs as the leaves die back
Watch out for greenfly and spray if necessary
May
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Water young fruit trees well
Build supports for runner beans
Plant out outdoor tomatoes
Sow sweet corn, marrows, and runner beans
Plant out leeks
Continue sowing leeks, lettuce, radish and carrots
Flower garden tasks
Dig up tulips where they have faded
Continue staking garden plants
Plant out hardy bedding plants
June
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Earth up potatoes in dry weather
Transplant spring sown cabbage
Sow main crop carrots
Plant out marrows and plant up tomatoes, peppers and aubergines sown earlier
Flower garden tasks
Prune early flowering shrubs such as choisya, weigela, deutzia and lilacs
Water plants regularly in dry weather, especially containers
Keep on top of weeding
Pinch out the tops of sweet peas to keep them bushy
Get rid of broad-leaved lawn weeds
Take softwood cuttings of shrubs and perennials |
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July
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Layer strawberries for extra new plants
Start pinching out side shoots of tomatoes
Feed tomatoes with a recommended liquid feed
Sow parsley, oregano and chervil outdoors
Flower garden tasks
Stay alert for pests and diseases
Mow lawns and trim hedges
Divide irises
Take cuttings of arabis, catmint and dianthus
Sow hollyhocks outdoors
August
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Plant out kale, sprouting broccoli and winter cabbage
Thin carrots
Dig up and store shallots
Continue to earth up celery
Strawberry plants layered earlier in the year can be detached and replanted
Flower garden tasks
Prune rambler roses once flowers have faded
Plant bulbs such as autumn crocus, cyclamen and colchicums
Keep on top of rust, blackspot etc and spray if needed
Tie in climbers regularly
Take cuttings of berberis, ceanothus and lavender
September
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Dig up and store carrots, celeriac, marrows, onions and main crop potatoes
Start blanching endive
Cut back asparagus plants
Tie up heads of cauliflowers to protect from cold weather
Plant out cabbage for spring harvest
Flower garden tasks
Plant crocus and daffodils
Take cuttings of geraniums, phlox and violas
Continue to plant autumn and winter flowering bulbs
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Patch scruffy lawns or lay new turf
Begin taking semi-ripe cuttings of evergreen shrubs, climbers and trees
October
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks &
Flower garden tasks
Clean up fallen leaves to help prevent pests and diseases
Make your own leaf mould with them
Divide herbaceous perennials such as campanula, geums helenium, and phlox
Dig up and store begonias
November
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Plant gooseberry and redcurrant bushes
Plant apple and pear trees
Support Brussel sprouts and protect winter cabbage
Pick winter greens
Plant horseradish
Flower garden tasks
Plant bare root roses
Order up tulips for planting in November to December
Divide large clumps of hardy ferns
Plant hyacinths indoors
December
Fruit and kitchen garden tasks
Prune apple and pear trees
Plan crop rotation for next year
Prepare vegetable beds for early sowing
Protect all delicate stone fruits such as peaches and nectarines with fleece
Flower garden tasks
Cut down tatty flower stems
Take hardwood cuttings buddleia, cornus, deutzia, forsythia, roses and viburnum
Continue cleaning up dead leaves and garden debris
Leave food out for the birds
Have a large glass of wine, enjoy the festive fun and make a plan of attack for next year
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