I love this time of year. The wet and sogginess of late autumn are behind us, there’s Christmas to look forward to, and dry chilly days with winter sunshine to brighten the mood. Once the winter solstice has passed, the days start getting longer again, and it won’t be long until we can get planting for a whole new season. Right now, it’s pretty much ‘more of the same’ in the garden: tidy and prepare the way for the year to come.

You can take hardwood cuttings this side of Christmas. I took some from roses last year and, while I lost some (hybrid teas don’t respond well), others have come on well over the year but still don’t need potting on yet. I’m going to try it with Deutzia Ruby Red that’s a good doer in a slightly shady corner and a pink flowering currant (Ribes), but Buddleja, Philadelphus (mock orange), climbers like honeysuckle (Lonicera) and Jasmine (Jasminum), fruit like gooseberries, figs and black, red and white currants are also options.

Cut sections of vigorous shoots that have grown this year into 15-30cm pieces. Make a sloping cut above a bud at the top so water doesn’t collect and damage the cutting, but also as a reminder which end is the top. Make a flat cut at the base below a bud and dip it in hormone rooting powder. Don’t bother planting the soft tip, it won’t make it through winter.

You can either insert the cuttings into a trench in an unneeded and well-drained bed in a sheltered spot or use some deep pots. Push two-thirds of the cutting below soil level and leave them undisturbed until the following autumn at least, checking to see they don’t dry out over summer.

I’ll winter prune my two wisterias now to keep them in check where they spread over my shed. Remember taking those long whippy shoots back to 7 buds in summer? Now cut it back again to two or three buds. I’ve got a couple of grape vines too and their sideshoots can be cut back to two buds of the main stem, which can encourage fruiting spurs. Doing it now when the sap isn’t rising means there’s less chance that the plant will bleed.

In the new year, divide your existing snowdrops while they are in the green to help them establish better. I’ve got three rhubarb plants so I usually force one of them in January (rotating which plant I do it to so that the others can recover for a couple of years afterwards). Just cover the plant with a tall bucket, dustbin or forcer so light is blocked out and leave it for eight weeks or so before harvesting the tender pale stalks.

I’ve put up a sturdy new hanging bird table in a small tree near the window where I can look out onto the garden from my home office. Working at home means I get to see the little wren that hops about in my winter honeysuckle. A bit of food will hopefully attract its friends too: giving me an entertaining distraction and helping them through winter. (Let’s hope the reality isn’t flocks of seagulls and pigeons divebombing my windows.) I’ve a great wall of honeysuckle, ivy, oak-leaved hydrangea and a yew tree that makes a great nesting site but need to give it a trim to keep it tidy. Best to do it now before birds start nesting.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.