Some winter gardening tips: Winter is a great time to start dividing all those plants that have grown too large for their containers or surroundings, lost their vigour or have ceased flowering.  Start by getting rid of as much foliage as you can by pruning to the crown of the plant. Then dig around the plant clump (if in the ground) and lift it gently out of the ground.  Make sure you don't damage the plants roots. Remove the soil from around the plants rootball and then use a tool such as a spade or knife to split the plants through to the crown. Repot the newly separated plantlets into their own containers using a good potting mix or just replant them back into the ground.  You've just turned your one plant into many! Brilliant!

Winter is the time for pruning many of those plants that flowered over summer including Abelia, Tibouchina, Buddleia and Hypericum. A good rule of thumb is to prune back by a third. Both Roses and Hydrangeas require trimming back at this time of year also.

Cut your Hydrangeas just above buds and you'll find they will explode into life in spring.  If you get frost, wait until later in the season before you cut back your roses... then go hard and prune them to outward facing buds so they dont grow through the middle of the bush! Get rid of all that dead and diseased wood.  Mak esure you also remove any growth that crosses through the centre of the plant. You should only leave the strong stems.

You can attend to Pear and apple trees also now. Thin out your branches to encourage fewer, but better quality fruit.