Wrap it up for winter

Here are five important tasks to help prepare your garden for the winter:

1. Now’s the time to get your pond ready for winter. Cover the pond with netting to catch falling leaves, which can pollute the water when they rot. Add a pond ball to prevent the water from freezing, which can kill fish and plants.

2. Established clumps of herbaceous perennials should be split now. Cut down the stems to ground level, then carefully lift the clump with a garden fork and separate it into smaller pieces. You only need to keep the healthy, younger, outer portions of the clump. Replant into soil improved with compost or composted bark and add a little bonemeal.

3. Get the greenhouse ready for winter by removing shading and sterilising it with Jeyes Fluid. Then put up bubble insulation to cut heating bills. Horticultural fleece can also be used to help provide a few extra degrees of frost protection. Don’t forget to check that your greenhouse heaters are working and buy replacements if necessary.

4. With so many jobs to tackle this autumn, you’re going to need a good range of quality tools to get them done quickly and easily. Take a look at our selection of tools in-store.

5. Prepare your garden and plants for winter, don’t let frosts take you by surprise. Non-hardy plants can be moved into a greenhouse or insulated coldframe, where horticultural fleece can be added for extra protection. Plants on the borderline of hardiness that are being left in the garden, including cordylines, other palms and tree ferns should be protected by wrapping them in fleece and then bubble wrap. Protect roots with a thick mulch of bark.