You need to ensure that any vegetables that need an early planting are sorted before the end of the month; aubergines, cucumbers, melons and peppers should all be planted inside a heated greenhouse. Tomatos, on the other hand, need to be kept under unheated glass.
You should, if the conditions allow, continue to prepare the soil for planting. You can use the technique of single digging to do this. Remove the soil from an area one spit deep and 15inches wide. Put it in a pile at the other end of the border. Move the soil from the next strip forwards into the area you have just dug out. Continue doing this until you reach the end of the border and put the first batch of soil into the strip you dig out.
You should also prune your trees, removing dead wood and any intrusive lower branches. Perform this with a saw, cutting neatly and cleanly. Start with an upward cut to stop the branch splitting if it is heavy. When you have finished cutting, you should apply a protective coat to the wound.
Carrying on with pruning, you should take a look at any Clematis plants. Vigorously growing examples, such as montana need little/no pruning apart from removing dead wood. You might also reduce the tangle of stems. This isn't vital but does reduce the weight that the plant's supports have to carry. Species such as Lasurstern, early flowering varieties, need to have all their dead wood removed, followed by a strict pruning of all weak growth, cutting shoots back to two strong buds. Clematis that flower on new growth, like Hagley Hybrid and Viticella, should be pruned almost to the ground in midwinter, so that all the previous year's growth is cut back, almost to the base, just above a pair of sound buds.
This isn't an exhaustive list of jobs that need doing before spring, but they are all important.
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