Flower Garden: Prepare new beds and smaller areas for spring planting. Clear dead fronds from hardy ferns, and use to protect tender bulbs and other dormant plants. Rake up fallen leaves from roses, especially where mildew or black spot was a problem, and burn. Lift and divide lily-of-the-valley, pot some up for forcing, and plant new supplies Pinch out the tips of leggy wallflowers to encourage branching

Kitchen Garden: Dig a deep trench for runner beans, and part fill gradually with waste organic material; cover with soil and leave to compost. Check over fruit and vegetables in store; dig a supply of roots for the festive season and store cool. Protect hardy trench celery with straw or several layers of fleece in severe weather.

Lawns & Hedges: In a very mild winter, mow the lawn if necessary, only when dry and with the blades set high.

Greenhouse: Ventilate the greenhouse and frame whenever possible in mild weather, even if for just an hour a day. Water cautiously under glass, especially leafy plants such as calceolarias and cinerarias. Keep potted plants clean and tidy, and stir the compost surface lightly to discourage algae. Cut down chrysanthemums going out of flower, and keep the stools cool and just moist. Plant up seasonal arrangements with greenhouse flowers, and cut evergreens and coloured stems. Pot up Christmas trees.

Water Garden: In hard weather keep part of the pond surface ice-free for fish.

In General: Sow tree seeds and berries such as cotoneaster and sorbus in pots in a frame outdoors; protect against mice. Hang bird feeders in fruit trees and roses to encourage birds that eat insect pests. Install or check plastic tree guards where rabbits are a problem. Check new trees and shrubs after heavy frost, and firm if they have been loosened in the ground