Eight easy and affordable things to do in the garden guaranteed to bring joy

If there’s a season for making lists, then we’re surely – bah humbug – slap bang in the middle of it. And now here, as if to add to your woes, is yet another one for you, but with an important difference, which is that it’s got nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas. Instead, below is a handy little shortlist of impactful, affordable, easy things to do in the garden or allotment in the coming weeks that are guaranteed to bring you joy.

Some will have a near-instant effect, while others are investments in the future, requiring just a few hours of your time in return for rich rewards down the line. But most importantly, all will give pleasure long after the final Christmas cracker has been pulled and the tinsel packed away.

Sow sweet pea

Let’s start with sweet pea, a hardy annual plant that’s almost universally adored. If you have an unheated glasshouse, polytunnel, cold frame or some sort of bright, cool, covered growing space to offer protection against extreme winter cold, then November is a great time to sow seed of it, resulting in much bigger, stronger, earlier flowering, longer flowering and more floriferous plants than their spring-sown counterparts.

For best results, pre-chit the seeds between a few layers of damp kitchen paper contained in a clear lidded plastic box and placed in a bright, cool room. Once they have sprouted, very gently sow them 3cm deep into individual deep pots or root trainers (available from fruithillfarm.com) filled with a very good quality seed compost, water well, and place in a cool, bright place under cover. Make sure to net against rodents until the seedlings have fully emerged and take suitable protection against slugs. Grow the plants on under unheated cover until next March, when they can be planted into their final growing positions outdoors.

My hedge is full of weeds, how can I get rid of them?

A damp, soggy shed is frustratingly impractical but it has attracted visitors: snails

I’ve fallen in love with roses again despite their constant demands

Now is a great time to sow sweet pea seeds in the greenhouse prior to spring planting. Photograph: Getty Images

A container display of sculptural hardy evergreens livens up winter gardens. Photograph: Getty Images

Show off your evergreens

Few things add more cheer to the winter garden than a handsome container display of sculptural hardy evergreens. When it comes to the container itself, go as big as you can afford, both for reasons of impact and ease of care regarding the plants that grow in it. As for suitable plants, all the following are great for providing enduring foliage interest: fatsia, camellia, rhododendron, astelia, pieris, skimmia, sweet bay, fargesia, pittosporum, Viburnum tinus, nandina, and dwarf conifers such as Pinus mugho. For something more compact, try hellebore, heuchera, rosemary, lavender, sempervivum, buxus, perennial wallflower, and the ornamental grass known as Carex ‘Irish Green’.

Heaven scent

Scent plays a powerful role in the winter and spring garden, jolting our senses awake at a time when it can feel as if the natural world is deep in hibernation. All the following can be planted this month and are celebrated for the sweet perfume of their flowers. Ideally grow them near an entrance or window where they can be easily enjoyed: witch hazel, sarcococca, daphne, mahonia, winter honeysuckle, chimonanthus, and Viburnum x bodnantense. If you can give their intensely perfumed flowers a bright, sheltered spot with protection from winter storms and frosts, then hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) pack a heavenly scented punch, although at this late time of year you’ll need to source them as plants rather than bulbs. Iris reticulata is also perfect for growing in a trough, window box or small pot by the front door where its dainty, deeply scented, late winter flowers will be appreciated.

Force an early show

Alternatively, plant Irish reticulata’s tiny bulbs (stockists include mrmiddleton.com) into a wide, shallow bowl and leave it in a cool, dark garden shed for about 10-12 weeks. Then bring it indoors to force the plants into producing an extra-early display guaranteed to warm the winter-chilled cockles of anyone’s heart. Other bulbous species such as amaryllis, narcissus (including tender paperwhites), hyacinth, anemone, fritillaria and crocus can likewise be forced into early flower by growing them partially under cover. See rhs.org.uk and sarahraven.com for specific advice.

Ready your rhubarb

November is a great time of year to plant rhubarb, an easy way to enjoy some home-grown produce with minimum effort. Exceptionally long-lived and impressively tolerant of neglect, this ultra-productive fruit (or vegetable, if you’re being picky) thrives in a rich, deep, moisture-retentive soil in full sun or light shade.

[ How can I save seeds from my garden safely?Opens in new window ]

Tend to tulips

Outside in the garden, November is also the best time to plant tulip bulbs, with colder temperatures significantly reducing the risk of disease. Grow these spring blooms in flower beds or, in the case of some of the more compact species-types such as Tulipa sprengeri, Tulipa sylvestris, Tulipa clusiana, Tulipa linifolia, and Tulipa batalinii, in lawns where they’ll gradually naturalise over time. Tulips also look great in pots (plant generously with the bulbs almost but not quite touching), either grown solo or in combination with ornamental bedding plants such as annual wallflower, viola and forget-me-nots. Alternatively, use the “lasagne” technique, layering the bulbs with other smaller, earlier-flowering bulbous species such as crocus, iris, scilla, fritillaria and dwarf daffodils for a colourful container display that will unfold over several months. Just make sure to plant the earliest-flowering variety in the top layer and the latest-flowering at the bottom, using a maximum of four layers.

Save seeds

Choose a dry, still day to save any remaining ripe seed of favourite plants from your garden or allotment – a hugely rewarding way to share the beauty with friends and family as well as save on costs and guarantee yourself an abundant supply. So long as it’s not a hybrid variety, it should produce plants which closely resemble the parent. (For lots of useful, practical tips on seed saving, see seedsavers.org and irishseedsavers.ie or get your hands on a copy of Cork-based Brown Envelope Seed’s seed-saving booklet brownenvelopeseeds.ie).

Cloves of winter-hardy garlic can be planted either in a polytunnel/glasshouse or outdoors in a sunny spot with well-drained, weed-free soil. Photograph: Getty Images

Go for garlic

Finally, there’s still time to plant garlic cloves, either under cover of a polytunnel or glasshouse or outdoors in a sunny spot with well-drained, weed-free, fertile but not recently manured soil. Don’t use shop-bought garlic, which is unlikely to be a variety suitable for overwintering and runs the risk of introducing diseases such as white rot. Instead source a winter-hardy variety such as Germidour, Morado, Thermidrome or Primor from a reliable supplier such as fruithillfarm.com, planting the individual cloves pointy end up and 2cm-3cm deep, at a spacing of 15cm apart and with 30cm between rows.

This week in the garden

So long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged, it’s okay to give lawns a final cut – but raise the blade height to avoid damage to the sward and keep a beady eye out for any early emerging flower bulbs.

Prevent wind damage to wall-trained shrubs and climbers over the winter months by gently tying in any new growth.