Garden: Weekend Work

PICK OUTDOOR tomatoes and put green ones on to the greenhouse bench to ripen. Remove tomatoes and their roots from greenhouse borders or growing bags, add some new multipurpose compost and then sow winter- hardy lettuce.

Spike the lawn with a garden fork or hired spiker to aerate the roots after the pounding it gets from a summer of mowing. Feed the lawn with a proprietary autumn lawn fertiliser by the end of the month. If you are making a lawn, this is the last moment for turfing or sowing seed before the spring.

Make sure all hedges are clipped before the colder weather comes.

Pick mid-season apples, such as `James Grieve', `Blenheim Orange', `Arthur Turner', `Ellison's Orange' and `Egremont Russet'. Store only those that are undamaged by birds or insects and show no signs of brown rot. Pick up windfalls to prevent the spread of diseases.