You can often buy cheap, end-of-season pots now; keep your eyes open.

– Whenever moving sizeable evergreens, soak them a day in advance and, when you have put them in the new hole, fill it with water and let it drain away before you fill it up with soil.

– Clean out the greenhouse before plants are shut in for the winter: brush down, disinfect, and clean the roof inside and out to maximise light. Do it on a mild, still day so you can stand any plants outside.

– Days are becoming shorter all the time and house plants lust for light. Turn them every week or so, to keep the growth even and green all round. Water more lightly.

– Begin to dry off tuberous begonias in pots and baskets. Once the stems drop off, the tubers can be cleaned, dried and stored.

Readers queries

Previously I have used horse manure in the garden, but there is a lot of grass seed in it. I am thinking of using pelleted chicken manure. Can I put this on now or should I wait until spring. Mrs K. McDonald, West Berkshire

Chicken manure contains high levels of nitrogen, and it is always wise to put high-nitrogen fertilisers on in the spring (as nitrogen is highly soluble, it will leach considerably before next season if applied now). Horse manure does bring lots of weed seeds but, on the other hand, it is coarse and provides far more humus than chicken pellets. Why not use your chicken pellets anyway, as a powerful general fertiliser, but get a load of horse manure and store it to rot down properly. Best of both worlds.

I have had a tree fern in a pot for ten years and have moved it into the garage during the coldest days of winter. I would now like to transfer it into a bed in a shady area of my garden. Would it be better to use bubble wrap or straw as winter protection for the trunk? Please also advise how the crown and fronds should be protected, or should the fronds be removed Mr T Simpson, London

Straw (say, 10cm all round) is far better all-winter insulation in cold gardens than bubble wrap, since plastic holds in so much stagnant damp. Imagine yourself being covered in clingfilm for four months. (Maybe don’t.) On the other hand, the straw has to be held in place somehow, and a winding spiral of bubble wrap with a running gap to breathe sounds a good idea.

Hessian is hard to find these days, but it is still the most natural and discreet fabric you can use in a garden. It’s worth seeking out as a final sleeve.

The growing bud of the tree fern is up in the crown and it does need protection from heavy frosts almost more than the trunk (outside of coastal or inner-city gardens where it’s worth letting tree ferns take the risk unprotected). The plant is naturally evergreen, so it weakens it to cut off the fronds. Drop a few handfuls of dry leaves into the crown if the weather is set to be a few degrees below freezing. Moderate, brief cold will brown the fronds, but the bud will survive, so if they are browned, break their spines and bend them inwards over the bud, as a cap.

stephen.anderton@thetimes.co.uk

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