General Maintenance
- Continue digging on clay soils when it’s not too wet.
- Keep adding to the compost heap, any woody material will need shredding or chopping up as small as possible to help it rot down faster.
- Check gardening tools for wear and tear, clean, sharpen and smear with oil before they are rested for the winter.
- Check down pipes off sheds and greenhouses for blockages and clean gutters of leaves.
- Cover the compost heap/bin, although the material wants to be damp excessive rain or snow will soak the material and slow the rotting process.
- Clean pots and trays in readiness for next spring.
Vegetables
- Net brassicas against hungry pigeons and the likes.
- Pick Brussels Sprouts starting from the bottom and removing the lower leaves.
- Harvest Parsnips after the first frost (this is said make them taste better).
- Prepare the Onion bed for next spring. Onions like a firm soil so preparations now allows the soil to settle over winter.
- Harvest Leeks as wanted, if they have been blanched using tubes check that they are stable enough to stand up against the winter winds.
- Propagate Rhubarb by lifting and dividing the crowns in to smaller pieces.
Fruit
- Begin winter pruning of Apples and Pears once the leaves have fallen.
- Prune Gooseberries and Currants.
- Top dress soft fruit with a layer of organic matter.
- Take hard wood cuttings of soft fruit.
- Plant new trees as they are available and the soil is still relatively warm.
- Place guards around the fruit tree trunks if rabbits are a problem.
Greenhouse
- Clean the greenhouse once all summer crops are finished.
- Ventilate on warmer days to aid the growth of over wintering crops.
- Be sparing with watering as crops will be growing very slowly.
- Sow greenhouse varieties of lettuce and salad leaves.
