It's getting cold and uninviting outside but that is no excuse to hibernate the winter away. The big thing for winter is pruning roses and fruit trees. I usually recommend waiting until the end of June to get started. Some roses are still flowering at the start of June so why waste that final show of flowers. I will save pruning advice for the July guide. No pruning job should be undertaken without the right tools. Furthermore are your tools sharp and well maintained? Start with your secateurs and loppers. Regularly wash them with soap and disinfectant. When was the last time they were sharpened? Use a flat fine bastard file to get a good edge back on the blades and then finely buff the edges with a flint for a super sharp edge. If this is a bit daunting, most nursery, lawn mower stores or hardware stores will offer a service for a fee where you can leave your tools and a professional will call in and sharpen your tools onsite.

Tools such as shovels should be sharpened also. You will be amazed at how much easier they will cut into the soil. A file or angle grinder will do the job. Don’t forget the handles by running some sandpaper over them and then lightly coating with linseed oil.

Most of the cottage plants or herbaceous plants will have died down and need to be cut back to ground level. Some plants may already have healthy new shoots emerging at the base such as Salvia, sedum, Shasta daisy, pentstemons, day lily and euphorbia. This can also apply to most native grasses.

Pots of annuals should be glowing now. Keep up with the liquid fertilising every week.

Look around the garden. Notice any dull spots? Lots of native plants like Grevillea, Croweas, Eremophila, Banksia, Eriostemon (Phylotheca) and Geralton wax are flowering now. They attract birds to the garden and are generally very hardy.

Plant a second crop of your broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage seedlings to spread out the cropping. Nothing worse than having 6 cabbages all ready in the same week!

Plant some rhubarb, onions, pak choy, coriander and silverbeet. Try the rainbow silverbeet. Fantastic yellow, pink orange and red stems light up any veggie patch. However they all go white when cooked.

Find space in the garden for a daphne or osmanthus. The fragrance is divine and will make a winter garden so inviting.

Helleborus are in flower now. They are great for shady parts of the garden or under deciduous trees.