I can’t decide what to put on the fence

What’s the best thing to use for painting my fence? – Jill, via email DAVID: Some fence “paints” are actually stains that soak in to change the wood colour. That’s fine though, and I usually use stains myself.

It’s good to treat the wood with a preservative first, to protect it from stuff such as mould, algae and insects. But not silicon, wax or oil-based as they repel future finishes.

Cuprinol, Ronseal, Protek or Barrettine do a good finish. them. Now it’s time to take a step back and have a good look at the plants you have in there.

Have any grown way too large for their space and need to be transplanted to somewhere else in the garden? It’s always best to move them while they’re dormant, and this is the last chance to do it before spring growth starts.

Perennials can be divided if needed, too – keeping them to a reasonable size and giving you free plants for another part the garden.

Also, are there any plants that you’re now simply tired of looking at and would like to replace? Now is the time to make those decisions.

Next, head to the shed and find your spade and fork so you can give your soil a little TLC.

Start by giving everything you can a digging over. You need to be careful not to damage the roots of plants already in the border, so you may only be able to gently turn over the topsoil around your established plants.

But this will still help the soil to breathe and improve the structure.

While you’re turning it, sprinkle in some Growmore or other general purpose fertiliser – scatter it as if you are feeding chickens, then dig it in.

It’s a good idea to add some soil conditioner such as compost or farmyard manure to the mix too.

This enriches the soil with nutrients and gives it more structure ready