Weekend work: Cutting self-seeders, growing foxgloves, taking cuttings

What to do

Cut down the flowered stems of enthusiastic self-seeders such as aquilegia, sweet rocket and Jacob's ladder.

You could also start a new colony of foxgloves from seed. 'Excelsior Hybrid Mixed' (Thompson & Morgan £1.99) is a handsome foxglove, with flowers all the way round its stem. Remember that foxgloves do best in damp, cool ground. They are excellent in shade.

Keep picking sweet peas. They will soon stop flowering if they are allowed to go to seed. I am growing mine up wigwams again this year.

Continue to remove side shoots from tomato plants and mulch courgettes and cucumbers to conserve moisture in the ground.

Transplant cabbages and broccoli from seed beds to their final positions.

Take cuttings of garden pinks. Choose shoots about 8cm (3in) long and stick them round the edge of pots which you have filled with a sandy mixture of soil. Firm the soil down well around the cuttings and keep the pot well watered.

What to see

Gardens open this weekend include All Seasons, 97 Grange Road, Ealing, London W5 3PH, where Dr Benjamin Royappa and his wife Maria have aviaries and an orchard, a tropical house for orchids and collections of ferns, bamboos and cacti. Open today (12-5.30pm) and tomorrow (12-6pm), admission £3