WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
■ SOW foxglove and other biennials in pots or in the garden.
■ DAHLIAS need weekly feeding and tall ones can be staked now.
■ TAKE softwood and semi-ripe cuttings.
■ TAKE cuttings from tender plants to over-winter indoors.
■ CUT sweet pea flowers regularly to prevent them going to seed and enjoy their scent indoors.
■ PINCH out tomato shoots. Feed tomatoes, peppers and cucumber with high potash fertiliser once fruits start to form. ■ CHECK for cabbage white butterfly eggs under cabbage leaves and remove.
■ SOW spring cabbage, turnips, fennel and autumn/ winter salads. ■ CHERRY, plum and peach trees can be pruned if need be now – this is a job you can’t do in winter due to a risk of silver leaf disease.
■ STOP climbing beans when they reach the tops of their stakes so they divert energy to cropping on side shoots. Keep all vegetables sufficiently watered.
■ MISSED the potato planting season? You can get cold-stored tubers which can be planted now and will mature for Christmas. These are best planted in bags or containers that can be brought indoors to a greenhouse before first frosts.