Grow Your Own - A quiet time

Things are definitely feeling a bit more wintery now with shorter days and the first frosts beginning tocoat the garden in the mornings. For most of us, gardening is quietening down but there are still jobs to be done, including pruning, tidying and protecting vulnerable plants.

November is a good time to plant new fruit trees and bushes if the ground is not already too cold or wet. Existing fruit trees and bushes should be pruned as soon as you are sure that they are dormant.

• Sow over-wintering broad beans outside or in the greenhouse if you have one.

• Dig over and weed vegetable beds as they become empty and feed them with rotted organic matter.

• Remove yellowing leaves from sprouts and other brassicas and clear other debris from the ground and make sure any diseased matter does not reach your compost heap.

• Stake any leggy-looking sprouts to stop wind damage.

• Protect pot plants by plunging them into the soil in sheltered spots or wrapping them with fleece or bubble-wrap. Check their drainage holes are clear and raise them up from the ground on bricks or pot feet.

• Have a good clean-up of bamboo canes, tools and flower pots before storing them over winter to keep disease at bay.

• Keep your crops or new sowings netted to deter pigeons and mice who will be hungrier now thatcrops are scarcer.