Gardening: Jobs for this weekend (Oct 30) | Brian Kidd

• Put up polythene-bubbled insulation in the greenhouse. Choose a dull day to prevent becoming too hot or being uncomfortable because of the sun in your eyes. Plastic fixings can be bought for this job, made especially for metal glasshouses. But drawing pins and cardboard squares can be used in wooden structures.

• Remove weeds from between alpine plants and afterwards top dress the soil’s surface with stone chippings to prevent heart rot and keep mud off the foliage.

• Buy seeds of fragrant exhibition sweet peas. They are often sown in November by serious growers. You will see if they are perfumed. It will say so on the seed packet.

• Save egg cartons so when seed potatoes are ready to be set up, you will have plenty of egg trays in which to keep them upright. Seed potatoes will be in garden centres in January.

• Put up polythene bubbled insulation in the greenhouse. Choose a dull day to prevent becoming too hot or being uncomfortable because of the sun in your eyes. Plastic fixings can be bought for this job, made especially for metal glasshouses. But drawing pins and cardboard squares can be used in wooden structures.

• Remove weeds from between alpine plants and afterwards top dress the soil’s surface with stone chippings to prevent heart rot and keep mud off the foliage.

• Buy seeds of fragrant exhibition sweet peas. They are often sown in November by serious growers. You will see if they are perfumed. It will say so on the seed packet. Exhibition types have long stems.

• Cut off leaves on wallflowers which have powdery mildew. Don’t leave the pieces lying around.