This week in the garden - 10 tips for gardening in the first week of November

November has arrived and autumn will soon be making that harsher transition into winter. What can you be doing this week outside in your garden to start making it winter-proof?

1 - Cut the grass if the weather remains warm and dry, and trim the

edges.

2 - Cut down all dead flower stems on herbaceous perennials and tidy

borders to remove foliage and plant remains, compost this material.

Leave late-flowering perennials.

3 - Sow a row of hardy peas and cover with cloches. Broad beans can also

be sown now.

4 - Remove old vegetable crops, clear the ground and dig compost or

manure into the soil. Leave heavy soil rough-dug so frost can penetrate

to help break it down.

5 - Lift dahlia tubers when the foliage has been blackened by frost.

6 - Rake and scarify lawns to remove thatch and other debris.

7 - Bring potted late-flowering chrysanthemums under glass before frost

strikes.

8 - Throw a net over a branch bearing holly berries to stop the birds

pecking at them.

9 - Wrap grease bands around the trunks of apple, plum and cherry trees

to catch the winter moth as she climbs to lay her eggs.

10 - Continue to take hardwood cuttings of roses and shrubs like cornus,

buddleia and ribes.