JOBS FOR THE WEEK

By Adrienne Wild 25/11/2007

EASY
Heap chipped bark around frost-sensitive plants to protect crown, buds and tubers.

If mail order shrubs arrive when the soil is frosted, put them in the shed or garage. Unpack the top half, but leave their roots covered. Plant out when the soil is workable – neither frosted nor soggy.

EFFORT
If black spot has marred your roses and leaves fell early, collect leaves and bin or burn them, to prevent disease spores lurking in the soil.

Dig a runner bean trench and fill it from now until May with well-rotted compost or old manure. Return excavated soil and sow seeds.

TOUGH
Dig soil on cleared vegetable plots. If your ground is heavy clay, leave it lumpy but level for frost to pulverise and give you a fine tilth for spring sowings.

Prune grapevines growing under glass by shortening laterals (current-year shoots arising from the framework) to two buds from the base.

GOOD IDEA
Cut holly for Christmas before the birds strip the berries. Hang the sprigs high up in a garage to keep mice away. – Irene Stevenson, Surrey  

DIY IT
Bare-rooted deciduous hedging plants, such as beech and hornbeam, are now ready for planting. Line them out 18in apart in rows to create formal boundaries, which will protect the lawn and provide privacy.