ORCHARD : Before the morning sign change, fruit day — use the early hours to check on stored apples and pears, removing any showing soft patches before rot spreads to neighbours. Quince and hazel planted bare-root earlier in autumn will benefit from a top-up of wood chip mulch, 8 cm deep, kept clear of the trunk collar.
VEGETABLE PATCH : After the sign change, root day takes over and the afternoon becomes prime time for underground work. Tuck garlic cloves in now — 3 cm deep, tip pointing up, spaced 12 cm apart — before the ground stiffens further. Shallot bulbs go in at soil level, 15 cm between each, rows 25 cm apart; firm them in gently. Lift any remaining parsnips, black salsify or skirret before a hard frost locks them in: parsnips actually sweeten after a frost, so taste one before you decide. Turnips still in the ground can be mulched with 8 cm of straw to extend the harvest window. Add a generous layer of well-rotted compost to cleared beds and work it lightly into the top 10 cm — the soil fauna will do the rest over winter.
LANDSCAPING : Bare-root roses arrive through December; plant them on a root day like this afternoon for a strong start. Dig the hole wide rather than deep, tease out the roots, and set the bud union just at soil level. Mulch with wood chip, 6–8 cm, kept clear of the stems.