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as the flowers begin to fade. Most herbaceous plants can be cut back after flowering or at the end of the growing season.Established plantSecateursLong-handled loppersPruning sawOctober - March30 minutes Where buds are visible, prune just above them to prevent

It's blackberry time - not those machines, without which many "suits" would feel emasculated, but fat berries swollen by rain and aching for crumble. The blackberry bramble is a weed, and the perfect example of a plant simply growing in the wrong

spots are covering the leaves and your hard work has been lost.This year I'm growing 10 different varieties of salad potato for a taste trial for Gardeners' World magazine, some of them, like 'Pink Fir Apple', are late maincrop varieties, so there doesn

: there seems little point in weeding much (the nights are too cold for most annual weeds to bother with seeding themselves), why bother to tie back a sprawling plant when you are going to cut them all down anyway soon? Even the grass stops growing quite

Last winter, when I went to great trouble to feed the birds in my garden, my offerings were largely ignored. This winter, I'm trying again, leaving seeds, chopped apples and suet pellets for ground-feeding birds such as robins, blackbirds

, according to Chief Horticultural Advisor Guy Barter. The growing season is getting longer, and plants are simply taking advantage.I don't know if my spring-flowering cherry is blooming late, or early. But not only is it in flower, it's also produced a second

trees that are worth looking into. Fruit trees are grown on different rootstocks and, depending on which one you choose, these regulate the eventual height of the tree - useful not just for small gardens, but also because it means that the best apples

coloured flowers, usually with a brilliant boss of yellow stamens at the centre. While many bedding plants remain dwarf and compact cosmos grows taller, swaying above them on the breeze. Seeds are cheap, and these tender summer bedding plants are always

."Unlike apples, plum trees are mostly self-fertile, but if you live in the North of England or are in an area prone to late frosts, then you may wish to plant the later flowering varieties."'Marjorie's Seedling' and 'Czar' are particularly good for frost