Remove dead growth from overgrown shrubs and plants to deter garden pests

FORGET about joining an expensive gym to shed any excess pounds - a few hours a week of energetic tidying in your garden at this time of the year can keep you fit and healthy. Remember the colder it is the more calories you burn just to keep warm!

Whether you've had the same garden for a while or moved into a new home last year, winter is the perfect time to assess the garden and make some plans for 2008.

Before you can decide what to do with your garden, you have to find out exactly what is out there - so wait for a dry day, pull on your wellies and warm jumper and get out there.

Tidying the garden by removing dead growth, clearing out plants which have spread too far and cutting back overgrown branches also removes any hiding places for slugs and snails during the winter - a surefire way of reducing their numbers for next summer.

Most of the winter berries have disappeared as birds enjoy their tasty treats, but these are replaced by catkins dangling from garrya's and hazels, the first signs of bulbs pushing their way through the cold soil, and buds swelling on bare stems.

If the soil is frosty or wet, try to keep off the beds as walking over them can easily destroy the soil structure. If you have heavy clay soil you may want to use wooden planks to work off as this type of soil takes the longest to dry out. Don't dig over open areas of soil if they are very wet, but breaking up the soil when it is dry is a good thing as it lets frost get into it and reduce lumps still further.

Once you have stripped your garden back to basics, go inside and take a good look at it from your windows - remember to go upstairs as well, so that you get the full perspective. If you are thinking of creating a new feature in your garden, such as a flowerbed or seating area, the view from above can be as important as from downstairs.

Think about what you are going to use your garden for - is it somewhere for your children to play, a space you want to use as an extra room' in the summer or do you want to start a new hobby, such as growing vegetables.

If you already have a lawn, decide if you want to keep the grass you already have or do you want to use some of that space for flowerbeds or a seating area.

With the pressure on all of us these days to space on waste by composting, it might be a good idea to think about putting a compost bin close to the house. It is much easier to have a small compost bin or container for kitchen waste, perhaps mounted on a wheeled trolley near the back door, so you can use it regularly to dump green kitchen waste and then move it regularly to a main compost area or bin in a more secluded part of the garden. Remember kitchen waste scraps need to be stored in a bin which will deter rodents, so you do not get problems with vermin.

A couple of hours tidying your garden will make it seem bigger and more manageable, and encourage you to think of new uses for the space.

3:42pm Monday 21st January 2008

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