Pruning and Training
Fruit trees should be planted this month, for optimum trainable growth next year. Lots of old, coarse compost in the planting hole will suit them well. And a mulch of the same.
A good month for planting or moving roses, too. Cut them well back to stop wind-rock and to encourage strong new growth next year.
Fix some wire hoops around multi-stemmed conifers in snowy areas to stop sudden heavy falls spraining the stems under the weight of snow.
Where diseases are a problem on roses, collect up all the fallen leaves you can find and burn them. Pick off any remaining few on the plants too.
Get your tulips in this month. Can anyone have too many tulips? No, so long as you do not have them indiscriminately everywhere. But where you do
have them, be generous: have lots. Plant them 6-7 inches deep and they will go on for years.
Pot up a few primroses or polyanthus from the garden, and watch them flower early indoors.
Pots or containers of evergreens which are to stand out through the winter can usefully have a layer of bubble-wrap tied around them, for the sake of
both roots and pot. Stand them somewhere a little sheltered to keep them warmer and dryer. Containers of frosted annuals should be emptied and stored somewhere dry. Remember 'frost-proof' only means the clay will not flake or rupture; but it can still burst open under the pressure of a frozen rootball.
Make sure alpines and cushion plants are free of fallen leaves which can cause moulds, bald patches and even death, especially in cold wet weather.
Tender perennials will benefit from a covering of some sort, to keep the worst of the winter cold from the crown and roots. Anything will do, from bracken and ferns, to leylandii prunings, to sand or even a cloche.
Time to plant garlic. Just push the cloves into the earth individually, 7in apart.
If you have a heavy soil or a clay soil, dig the ground (when it is as dry as possible) and leave it rough, so the frost can break is down and make it friable for next season.