Reading the Season's First Signs

The first proper frost often arrives quietly, silvering the lawn overnight and leaving the dahlias blackened by breakfast. In most parts of the UK, ground frosts can appear from late September in sheltered valleys, while a hard air frost is more likely from late October onwards. It pays to listen to the forecast rather than the calendar, because a single sharp night can undo a summer's work. A little preparation now does double duty: it protects tender plants and gives the creatures that share your garden somewhere to shelter until spring returns. The old cottage-garden approach was never about tidying everything away — it was about knowing what to leave, what to lift and what to wrap.

Bringing Tender Pots Under Cover

Pots are the most vulnerable things in any country garden, because roots sit above ground and freeze from every side. Before the first hard frost, move pelargoniums, fuchsias, citrus, olives, bay, agapanthus and tree ferns into a greenhouse, porch, conservatory or cold frame. If you have no glass, group them tightly against a south-facing wall, where the masonry radiates stored warmth, and wrap the pots in bubble wrap or hessian.

• Stand pots on bricks or terracotta feet so drainage holes never sit in a puddle.
• Cut back watering drastically and stop feeding altogether — soggy compost in cold weather rots roots faster than frost.
• Check the rim of every pot for slugs and vine weevil grubs before bringing it inside.
• Line a greenhouse with bubble wrap and ventilate on mild, bright days to prevent mould.
• Lift dahlias and gladioli corms once the foliage blackens, dry them upside down, and store in dry compost or newspaper in a frost-free shed.

Mulching Bare Borders the Right Way

A generous mulch is the closest thing to a blanket a border can have. Spread well-rotted manure, garden compost, bark chippings or leaf mould about 5–8cm deep over bare soil, but wait until the ground is cold and damp rather than warm — mulching too early simply encourages soft growth that frost will cut down. Avoid working on frozen or waterlogged ground, and never pile material against stems, crowns or the necks of shrubs, as this traps moisture and invites rot.

Keep mulch a hand's width clear of trunks and leave a small gap around the crowns of herbaceous plants. On heavy clay, fork over the surface lightly first so winter rain can drain away. As well as insulating roots against the heave and thaw of repeated freezing, a mulch feeds worms and soil life right through the winter, and by spring it will have been drawn down into the soil by them.

Leave the Seed Heads Standing

Resist the urge to cut everything back. Seed heads left standing are larder and lodging for wildlife, and many look superb rimed with frost.

• Teasel, globe thistle and cardoon hold seed well into January and draw goldfinches and bullfinches.
• Sedum, echinacea, rudbeckia and sunflower feed finches and tits and shelter overwintering insects in their hollow stems.
• Rosehips, haws, holly and ivy berries provide food for redwings, fieldfares and blackbirds arriving on the autumn winds.
• Verbena, honesty and ornamental grasses offer structure, and grass tussocks make perfect hibernation sites.

If you must tidy, cut stems into 30cm lengths and stack them in a corner rather than shredding them. The traditional rule is to leave the cutting until late February or early March, once the worst of the weather has passed and the birds have taken what they need.

Shelter for Overwintering Creatures

Wildlife needs three things to see out the cold: cover, food and unfrozen water. Build a log pile in a shady corner, bark intact, and leave it undisturbed — toads, beetles and fungi all use it. A mound of fallen leaves behind a shed or under a hedge makes ideal hibernation for hedgehogs and queen bumblebees. A hedgehog house set on dry ground facing away from prevailing wind will often be used, and a 13cm gap beneath a fence panel gives them a safe route between gardens.

Keep a shallow dish of water topped up and break the ice on mild mornings, as birds and mammals struggle to find liquid water in a hard spell. Leave a patch of long grass uncut and don't clear every fallen leaf from beneath shrubs. If you find a hibernating butterfly or ladybird in a shed, leave it be.

Old Skills for the Winter Workshop

The quiet months are for mending and maintaining, and these jobs repay you tenfold in spring. Clean soil from spades and forks, dry them thoroughly, then rub metal with an oily rag and sand wooden handles before treating them with linseed oil. Sharpen secateurs, shears and hoe blades with a whetstone, working at the original angle. Drain hoses, lag outdoor taps and either empty water butts or float a sealed plastic bottle inside to absorb the expansion of ice.

Brush terracotta pots and store them dry under cover, as saturated clay splits in a hard frost. Build a four-post wire cage for leaf mould — a year in the making and the finest soil conditioner you will ever use. Mend gates, creosote or oil fence posts, sort saved seed, and stack firewood loosely with the bark up so rain runs off, covering only the top. Do these small things now, and when the frosts finally lift, the garden and everything living in it will be ready to grow.