Rake up fallen leaves and pile them up to make leafmould

Finish planting evergreen shrubs and take hardwood cuttings from all shrubs and fruit bushes you wish to propagate

Collect berries from trees and shrubs for seed-sowing

Plant new climbers, perennials, and lily and tulip bulbs

Cut down the tops of perennial vegetables

Lift and divide rhubarb

Fix grease bands to apple and pear tree trunks to catch insects that crawl up them

Insulate your greenhouse and check your greenhouse heaters work

Make early plantings of broad beans for next year

From “Gardening Through the Year” by Ian Spence

Cut down the tops of Jerusalem artichokes

Cut down asparagus fern now that it has turned yellow

As soon as the ground is cleared, dig over if necessary

Dig in green manure crops or manure

Cover some ground with polythene to keep the worst of the rain off and enable early sowing next year

Pick the last of the runner beans

Finish lifting maincrop potatoes – dry them before they are stored

Continue lifting carrots and beetroot for storing

Plant out spring cabbages if this was not done last month

Finish planting autumn onion sets

Plant garlic if you didnÂ’t do it last month

Sow broad beans outside and cover with cloches

Remove yellowing leaves from Brussels sprouts and other winter brassicas such as cabbages, cauliflowers, and broccoli

Prepare a bed for planting asparagus in the spring

Lift parsley and mint for winter use

Harvest basil leaves and freeze in ice-cube trays topped up with water

From “Gardening Through the Year” by Ian Spence