JOBS FOR THE WEEK

By Adrienne Wild 9/12/2007

DO IT!:

EASY
Plant lilies in patio pots for early summer displays, keeping them in the greenhouse or an a cool porch. Feed the Christmas-flowering houseplant, azalea, weekly with flower-inducing high-potash Tomorite. Moisten the compost with lime-free rainwater. Check pelargoniums, fuchsias, agyrathemums and other overwintering plants, removing any dead or yellowing leaves. 
EFFORT
Pinch out the tips of seedlings on autumn-sown sweet peas once the second or third pair of leaves have formed. Cover the cold frame with matting for a couple of hours after severe frosts.  Examine stored dahlia tubers and cut off parts that are showing signs of rotting and dust with flowers of sulphur, and if they are shrivelling plunge them in tepid water for the night, dry and repack them in trays of peat. Wash and sterilise flowerpots and trays, then stack them in the shed ready for use.  
TOUGH
Spike compacted areas of lawn with a fork on a dry day and fill the holes with sharp sand to improve aeration and make the grass grow better in spring.  Plant bare-root fruit trees when the soil is neither frosted nor soggy and set them at their previous depth, where the light and dark bark meets.  Prune greenhouse vines. Shorten new growth leaders by a half and clean off dry bark from the lateral rods.   

DESIGN IT:
Give your home some extra sparkle this Christmas by turning ordinary plants into glorious abstract features by being inventive with strings of electric lights. You can turn a conifer into a spiral of light by threading light bulbs through the branches, while oaks  and other trees which have lost their leaves can be turned into sparkling skeletons. Half-drape a hedge with a net of lights and you’ll create the illusion of a wall of glass. There are illuminated Bendy Bars too, for adding impact to patio pots.  Choose LED lights designed for outdoor use and with green wire cables, which are less obtrusive. Use a professional electrician for any major installations. For further ideas about lighting call The Festive Lights Centre on 01257 792111 or see www.festive-lights.com  

DIY IT:
If you are planting a new border this winter, choose some big architect- ural plants, to make a bold statement, easy-care ground-hugging plants to cover the soil and evergreen shrubs to provide year-round interest. Arrange perennials plants in bold groups so they drift through the border.

GOOD IDEA:
When arranging flowers, put a drop of bleach in the vase before adding water to stop it going cloudy when the bacteria starts to build up – Jan Huntley, Bakewell,