Gardening: Your jobs for the weekend | Brian Kidd (Aug 14)

• Good quality prepared hyacinth bulbs have arrived at garden centres. These can be brought into flower for Christmas if you follow the advice you will read here at portsmouth.co.uk in early September’s gardening notes. But make a start now and buy some clay bulb pots about five to six inches across. They are deeper than bulb bowls and your hyacinths won’t keep falling out of the containers.

• There is still time to move nerine bulbs. When replanting they are best grown in groups with only half an inch of space between bulbs. They can also be divided and planted in tight groups. This will ensure they still flower this autumn. Leave about a third of the depth of the bulb out of the soil and plant in a sunny spot.

• Buy a pack of Anemone De Caen. Plant five corms around the edge of a flower pot five inches in diameter in John Innes No 2 compost. Once the pot is filled with roots and without disturbing the root ball, plant them where you want to enjoy the flowers and you will always be successful growing anemones.

• If you enjoy garlic, try to find some that has been grown on the Isle of Wight. You will often see it labelled proudly. This strain grows well on the southern mainland too and can be planted during the end of September for early cropping next year.

• Did you remember to sow seeds of spring hearting cabbage? If not, do it now. I did say I would remind you!

As day-length becomes shorter, weeds grow faster – a fact . Try to hand-weed before the weeds flower. This breaks into the weeds’ life cycle and they can be added to the compost bin.

• Flowers in tubs and containers are looking past their best in many gardens. Don’t give up. Trim back the tips of the plants, remove all dead flowers and water them with half-strength Maxicrop growth stimulant every other day for a week. In a fortnight’s time, the plants will look refreshed again.

• After all that, have a rest in the shade.