YOUR GARDEN: DO IT! Jobs for the week

TOUGH TASKS-REPLACE worn- away lawn edges with a mowing strip or row of paving slabs set at the same level so the mower can just glide over them.

-PRUNE rambling and climbing roses. Cut out old flowering wood to within 2in of the main stem.

-CLEAN greenhouse glass to make the most of all valuable light.

-CUT out blackberry canes that fruited this year.

BIT OF EFFORT-TAKE up dahlia tubers once the foliage has been blackened by frost. Cut back the stems to 12in of the tuber and stand upside down indoors to allow the hollow stems to drain. When dry, trim back further and dust with green sulphur.

-INVEST in a compost bin to recycle garden waste. Fill with moist leaves, grass clippings and shredded prunings, plus a sprinkling of nitrogenous fertiliser.

-LIFT and store maincrop potatoes in brown paper sacks.DEAD EASY- PLANT spring bulbs in small pots to provide a succession of flowering plants to fill gaps in containers and flowerbeds from February to May.

-STOP feeding houseplants and reduce watering as the temperature drops,

especially if growing succulent plants such as cacti.

-REMOVE dead summer annuals from containers and replace them with hardy winter pansies.

-WRAP grease bands (available in garden centres) around the trunks of apples and pear trees to stop winter moths laying eggs in the branches.

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