Plant so bottom leaves are level with soil surface as this gives plants support.

Dig in plenty of compost, fallen leaves and a complete fertiliser so when the brassicas are harvested the bed, when dug, will be ready for a root crop.

Plant salad greens with slightly bitter-tasting leaves as they like the cooler months.

Plant stocks, Iceland poppies, cinerarias, pansies, primulas, nemesia, larkspur, lupins, foxgloves, cornflower, forget-me-nots, alyssum, sweet peas, aquilegia, lobelia, violas, polyanthus and dianthus for winter and early spring colour.

Ranunculi and anemone corms can be planted.

Soak ranunculi corms in warm water for an hour or two before planting.

Most evergreen shrubs, trees, grassy plants, spring flowers and bulbs can be planted now.

Keep tomato plants well watered and fed and they should keep cropping for a few weeks more or until the first frosts cut them down.

Dahlias should be flowering well. To produce even better flowers a little disbudding and tying the plant to a stake for support will help.

A mulch of some spoilt lucerne hay, pea straw or stable manure is most beneficial.

Dahlias should not be cultivated around the base during their growing period as this could result in injury to their feeder roots, which being close to the surface, can cause misshapen flowers.

Citrus trees can be given a liberal fertilising dressing.

If ants are active on citrus trees then check for black scale insects and spray with white oil if found.

Give the tree a good watering before spraying and do not apply on a sunny day as the oil may burn the leaves.

Keep a close watch on azaleas and rhododendrons for thrips which attack the leaves of these plants and can cause untold damage if left unchecked.

Their presence is seen as a rusty or silvery appearance of the leaves.

When noticed, spray with a recommended systemic insecticide.

Top dressing the lawn is not only beneficial for the grass but also provides the opportunity to repair any worn, bare patches by reseeding them.

Do this by giving the lawn a dressing of fine sand or sieved soil along with a handful of pelletised chicken manure or a lawn-specific fertiliser.

Apply sufficient soil to redress any unevenness in the lawn's surface which is usually a covering of about half-a-centimetre.