In the garden this week: Wrap up warm and no-dig digging

Wrap up warm Those who gambled on leaving tree ferns unwrapped and dahlias in the ground last year paid the price in plant losses. Now is the time to take precautions. Horticultural fleece is the material of choice, being cosy yet – crucially – breathable, so that plants don't get soggy and rotten, as they would wrapped in plastic. Wrap it around the stems of vulnerable plants and around the crowns of tree ferns. Lift dahlias after the first frost has blackened the foliage, and store in a cool, frost-free place. No dig digging This is the ideal time to construct a no-dig bed as outlined by Charles Dowding in Organic Gardening: The No Dig Way . He believes that layering compost on the top of the soil, so the worms dig it in, produces better results than digging. And doing so now allows the worms to do their thing over winter, well in time for spring planting. Cover the area with a thick layer of cardboard (to smother weeds) and then a thicker layer of compost.