Now is the perfect time to prune fruit trees to maintain an open, balanced structure and encourage quality fruit production. However plums, cherries and other stone fruits should not be pruned until the summer as winter pruning will make them susceptible to silver leaf fungus.
Prune acers, birches and vines before Christmas to avoid bleeding.
Reduce watering of houseplants. Plant bare-rooted trees, shrubs and roses between now and the end of March.
Harvest leeks, parsnips, winter cabbages and sprouts. Continue to cut back herbaceous perennials as they die back. Put bark chips around hellebores to protect them from rain splashes.
Keep raking leaves off the lawn before they block out light and moisture to the grass. Grass will still grow above 5˚C, so if the weather is mild it might be necessary to give the lawn a trim.
If you have fish or other wild life in your pond make sure that it doesn’t freeze over by either using a pond heater, or put a ball in the water to keep an area free from freezing or hold a saucepan of hot water on the surface until the ice melts.
Make sure wild birds have a supply of food and water over these cold months.
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