• Bring containergrown shrubs into the greenhouse for forcing. Suitable candidates include roses, deutzia, lilac and viburnum.
  • Continue to lift rhubarb roots and leave them exposed to frost before bringing in and forcing.
  • Top up bird feeders and baths.
  • Stock up with seed of the salad onion ‘White Lisbon’, which can be sown in a glasshouse border or frame towards the end of the month.
  • Firm in any autumnplanted shrubs and border plants lifted by frost.
  • Cut back clinging climbers from windows and doors.
  • Clean tools and oil and sharpen metal blades.
  • On dry days, treat your wooden garden furniture with preservative.
  • Have a clear-out of the shed and reorganise your storage space, putting up tool racks and disposing of clutter.
  • Keep a bag of gritty sand at hand to sprinkle over frosty paths when temperatures plummet.
  • If you have a heated propagator, sow seeds of slow-growing perennials such as geraniums, so they’ll be ready to flower at the start of summer.