Wisteria is the immediate one that comes to mind - the short stems reduced in the latter part of last year will now need to be reduced further to about 3 or 4 buds to encourage the flower buds.

This is also an ideal time to prune apple and pear trees. Older trees that are no taller than about 8ft can be both pruned and sprayed without too much aggravation. Older trees can tend to produce a lot of small apples, which invariably attract every disease that's going. The first thing to do is to remove all the new growth that has been made during the season, followed by any diseased or crossing branches. When that has been completed then you can look at removing some of the fruiting spurs to reduce the cropping and have a few better quality apples instead.

On younger trees, new growth can be reduced back to two or three buds to develop the fruiting buds for next year. Year one new growth, year two fruiting spurs form, then year three flowers and hopefully, cropping on fruiting spurs. Pears can be treated exactly the same way.

Clematis is always best pruned when you can see some signs of life. If it is in a sheltered position you can get away with pruning now. Those that require hard pruning will need to be taken down to about a foot from the ground. Others can be lightly pruned for shape if necessary. Leave the Montana sp, as they will be flowering in the next month or so - when it's finished you can be as carefree (brutal!) as you want.

When Snowdrops are in full leaf and flower it is the ideal time to lift and move if required. Ordinarily, with most plants you would wait, not so in this case - dig a hole for the new clump first, lift as much as possible of the existing clump and place into the new hole, finish off by lightly firming the surrounding soil. The leaves will droop to start with, but will pick up again very shortly.

Taller shrubs may need support either with stakes or guy ropes, with evergreen shrubs it is always best to prune them back as much as possible to reduce the risk of water loss through the existing leaves (transpiration) when they start back into growth. Trees, regardless of size, need a good solid stake for at least a year, maybe two, together with a proper tree strap. Try to avoid using the partner's tights!!

High winds are fairly frequent at this time of year, so it is wise to quickly check all existing stakes and ties together with fences, arches etc. If they need attention, best now than at the height of the season when you can't see anything for new growth.

Herbaceous plants need as much winter light as possible into their crowns, so continue clearing out all the previous years growth. A generous helping of organic matter in between all the plants will help to put back some of the food taken out during the year.

Lawns are always a forgotten aspect of the garden at this time of year. With most gardeners concentrating on them only while they are being cut. It wouldn't hurt to take a high cut to tidy them up if they have become a bit shaggy over the winter. An application of moss killer only will ensure that it is kept at bay. Lawns never really stop growing over the winter, there are just different rates of growth relative to the weather - we only tend to comment on it when we're struggling with the first cut in the spring. Toro, one of the leading sports equipment manufacturers has surveyed Joe public to determine that only a small percentage of us have our machines serviced on a regular basis. It also highlighted the fact that we tend to have our machines serviced only when they refuse to start in the spring. Be ahead of the game this year, get your machine serviced now, you may even get a discount! (do your cut first though.)

It may appear to be too early to worry about slugs, but the little perishers are still active so whichever method you find works to control them, increase it! For extra help see our article War on Slugs.

If your thinking of planting seed spuds this year, then now is the time to get them out into trays to be chitted. If you have early varieties, lay them in trays in a cool frost-free place and wait for them to sprout from the eyes. Only allow 3 or 4 shoots per potato - the others can be rubbed off. Maincrop varieties don't normally need to be started this way, as their growing season is a lot longer. If you have space and want some very early potatoes, place 2 or 3 in a deep pot (about 12" diameter) filled with a 50/50 mix of John-Innes 3 and a soil-less compost, then stand in the greenhouse. Keep only lightly moist until the shoots appear above the soil, then increase accordingly. Apply a light liquid feed every 10-14 days.

Finally, for all you romantics out there, advice (from `er indoors, who is a fully trained florist) on how to prepare those dozens of roses that will be winging there way to your door on Valentines day!

After you have pondered over who they are from, especially if you have more then one bouquet (!), unwrap them and place on the draining board of your sink. Cut all the stems (straight or angled, it doesn't matter) by a couple of inches and remove any lower leaves. Put them into a deep vase of water with any plant food that came with them. Change the water daily to prolong the flowering and continue thinking of ways to explain to your partner why you have more than one bouquet!!

In the event that the tops of the flowers start to wilt, don't despair they are not cheap roses, just likely to have developed an airlock in the stem preventing them taking up water. Take a jug with a couple of inches of boiling water in, cut a couple of inches off the bottom the roses again and plunge the stems into the boiling water for a few seconds. Remove from the water and immediately wrap the stems in newspaper and then place them into fresh water (still in the newspaper) in a vase or similar. After a couple of hours the flower heads will have straightened up, the newspaper can be removed and the roses placed into a deep vase of fresh water.

Happy Gardening,