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and place it in a bucket of water in a cool, shady spot outdoors. This allows the branches to settle and rehydrates the tree.Give your tree a vigorous shake before taking it inside, to dislodge any loose needles.Saw a few centimetres off the bottom

On Sunday I spotted the first frogspawn of the year in the stream running through Peckham Rye Park. I say stream, it's more of a municipal water feature, with narrow stretches of running water between a series of small pondlets and gentle water

Balling is triggered by cool, damp conditions, often in a partially shady site, where water-saturated outer petals fail to dry out before being scorched by the sun. The mushy plant tissue dries to form a stiff straightjacket around the petals

Summer prune wisteria, shortening all long wispy sideshoots back to about 20cmWater hydrangea bushes with a hydrangea colourant for true blue colour next summerTake clematis cuttings or layer new shoots by pegging them down into the soil to root

Around the gardenTie shoots of honeysuckle and climbing roses to supportsPinch out the shoot tips of dahliasDeadhead lupinsFlowersHang old CDs among crops and from fruit treesWater beans and sweet peasGive extra water to ripening soft fruitsFruit & vegDamp down

an explosion of flowers the next year.Compost your kitchen and garden wasteTop up water levels in garden ponds if they are getting low Push canes in around tall plants like gladioli and lilies Around the gardenCollect and sow seed from foxglovesTake cuttings

, cutting back whippy sideshootsWater plants in pots and basketsFlowersCheck sweetcorn to see if it's ripe and ready to pickPick beans and water crops regularlyLift onions once their tops die downFruit & vegBuy pansies and other winter bedding plug plants

Garden compost, bagged compost or soil improverBonemealSpadeWatering can or hosepipeMarch - October 20 minutesChoose a suitable place for the plant in your garden. Using a spade, dig a hole that's slightly bigger than the size of the pot that it's growing in

Repotting gives the plant a proportion of fresh compost to root into and this will provide water and nutrients to promote new growth. As a rule, choose a pot that is just a little larger than the one it was growing in before. Choose a container

Learn how to plant up a traditional hanging basket, with Sarah Raven's advice on choosing a basket and plants, as well as tips on retaining water. springMore advice on hanging basketsRachel de Thame demonstrates how to plant up a traditional