Weekly jobs

Place dustbins full of water under greenhouse staging. They warm up during the day, releasing their heat at night and act as storage heaters.

Plant out hardy primulas raised from seed or divisions.

Harvest cobnuts, hazelnuts and filberts when husks begin to yellow, but before they start dropping.

Continue to pick fast maturing vegetables, such as French beans, runner beans, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, to prevent them becoming stringy, tough or bitter.

Where grass growth is thin and sparse, over-seed now with a suitable grass seed mixture.

Lift onions and shallots once the foliage has started to die back.

Take cuttings of rosemary, lavender, bay and hyssop.

Take hardwood cuttings from gooseberry bushes to increase stock.

Sow sweet peas in a cold frame or the greenhouse for early summer blooms next year.

Plant new perennials while the soil is still warm, but moisture levels are increasing.

Wait for the first frosts to hit dahlias and cannas before lifting the tubers or rhizomes.

Buy springflowering bedding plants, such as bellis, primula, wallflowers and violas.

Prune out any dead, dying or diseased shoots on fruit trees that are affected by diseases such as bacterial canker, cherry leaf scorch, powdery mildew or other problems.