January in the garden and don't forget the hedging

Flowers

• Plant bare-root or potted roses, shrubs, hedging and ornamental trees, as long as the ground isn't frozen
• Take root cuttings of fleshy-rooted perennials such as oriental poppies, acanthus and verbascums
• Establish new colonies of snowdrops and hellebores by buying plants in flower, so you can choose the prettiest blooms
• Clear away soggy, collapsed stems of perennials and compost them
• Take hardwood cuttings from deciduous shrubs, such as forsythia, willow and viburnum
• Remove and bin hellebore foliage marked with black blotches, to limit the spread of leaf spot disease
• Press mistletoe berries into the bark of apple trees to establish your own mistletoe plants
• Check that small alpines don't become smothered by fallen leaves and other wind-blown debris
• Deadhead winter pansies and other bedding regularly, and remove any foliage affected by downy mildew
• Move dormant plants that are in the wrong place to more suitable sites
• Continue pruning roses even when dormant.
• Check for mould on stored bulbs and tubers