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’ll be in good enough condition to replant next April.However, I’m going to risk leaving my dahlia tubers in the ground, as the site is quite free draining. Once their tops have been touched by frost and blackened (it won’t be long now), I’ll cut them off at soil

-seeded readily. Once they've flowered, the seed heads ripen and split, scattering their contents onto the soil below. I've rested pots of compost around them to catch the seed in the past, or it can just be collected by hand.Freshly sown foxglove seeds germinate

(oh dear, I think I'm now showing my age). Most gardeners will hopefully have come across the popular hardy Nerine bowdenii, which can be naturalised outside in a suitable free-draining soil, or simply grown in pots, but N. crispa has far more delicate

or grubs hiding below soil level to feed this hungry horde, and how do starlings know there's food there anyway?In the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch last January, starlings came in at number 2 in the top ten of most commonly seen garden birds - just behind

sites and situations, from dry soils to deep shade. But while 'Sulphur Heart' provides the foil, it's Vitis coignetiae that adds the colour. Its bold green leaves open in spring, and rampant new shoots spread out in all directions. Then, as cold weather

in particular diving in and out of soil beneath my feet as I fork over flowerbeds.January is the time I like to put up the bird nest boxes, or clean out old ones that were used last spring. I've already noticed a few blue tits around, exploring existing nesting

I just lift from the patio pot and stand them in a bright corner of the garden where they can continue their growing cycle.Of course, bulb baskets can also be used to fill gaps in borders, too. Just sink one into the soil for an instant display. What

to more pickings for breakfast well into September.Just one job for next weekend...I must bury the tips of a couple of canes in the soil. These will root by a process called tip layering to produce new plants that I can give away to friends

the country and it will really make a difference. And my reward, apart from doing my bit, is lovely compost to dig in and improve my soil.

well with dry shade, but if its leaves do flag I give the surrounding soil a good drenching. A hundred snowdrops bought 'in the green' last month have also been planted through this border, and I'm keeping these watered until they completely die down. I