With bad weather and shorter days this time of year can make it a challenge to have a good long session in the garden, but for some reason I seem to impose a pressure on myself to get my garden in order or put to bed before the real frosts and snow set in.

So even if its for a few hours I’ve been dashing around like a mad thing doing some general tidying, cutting down perennials, allowing 6” stumps to remind me where they are, getting the last of my tulips and spring bulbs in and clearing beds in the veg patch.

I normally wait until the frosts have blackened the foliage on my dahlias but mine were ruined in the strong winds we had in October so I’ve cut them down and added a thick layer of the spent compost from the old tomato bags to help protect them from the heavy frosts.

Greenhouse jobs: as last week was a particular washout I attacked the greenhouse clearing out the last of the tomatoes, had a good sweep out, and I even practised what I preached (amazingly!) and sowed my sweet peas.

I also popped in a few more cut and come again salad seeds as they seem to germinate so quickly I should hopefully have some fresh Christmas salad (much better than slimy supermarket salad bags!).

I would recommend Mizuna; Rocket and Mustard leaves to give you a lovely peppery selection to liven up any salad.

The Last Cut? November in theory should be the last of the regular cutting of your lawn, but as grass does not actually stop growing even when it is really cold, it simply slows down you could still be mowing right through the winter.

A light high cut is a good idea to keep it looking smart; there is no reason to have a scruffy lawn for one third of the year. The soil should be on the firm side, not soft and ideally choose a nice dry windy day.

Now is a good time to get the mower in for a service before they get really busy in spring. And don’t forget trim your edges, they make everything look neater!