December — garden and home jobs for this month

The garden slows down, but it does not stop

December's main job outdoors is protection rather than growth. Frost is the thing to plan around: it can arrive as early as mid-November in parts of Scotland and the north, and often not until late December in milder coastal areas of the south-west, so check your local forecast rather than working to a fixed date. Move tender pots (terracotta especially, since it cracks when wet clay inside freezes and expands) against a sheltered wall or into a shed, and lift bubble wrap or fleece onto anything that cannot be moved.

Bare-root planting of trees, hedging and roses can carry on through December whenever the ground is not frozen or waterlogged. This is one of the few genuine planting windows left in the year, so if you have a hedge or fruit tree on the list, this is a reasonable month to get it into the ground.

Lawns: leave them alone

A UK lawn in December needs almost nothing done to it, and that is simply how it works this time of year. Mowing, scarifying (removing dead thatch) and aerating (spiking the surface to improve drainage) all wait for spring growth to resume. The one thing worth doing is staying off the grass when it is frozen or waterlogged, since walking on it in either state damages the grass structure underneath.

Sheds and outbuildings: check before the weather gets worse

December is a sensible month to walk round a shed or outbuilding with a torch, because winter storms find weaknesses that summer weather hides. Look at:

• Roof felt or shingles for lifting edges or tears
• Guttering for blockages that will overflow onto timber
• The base for standing water or rot starting at ground level
• Door and window seals for draughts that let damp in

A small repair now, such as reseating a lifted felt edge, is far cheaper than replacing a roof panel that has let water in all winter. For more detail on what to look for, see Shed and Outbuildings.

The house: gutters, pointing and draughts

Clear gutters and downpipes before the first hard frost if you have not already, because water sitting in a blocked gutter freezes, expands and can crack the guttering itself. While you are up there, or having someone up there for you, it is worth glancing at the fascia and soffit (the boards at the roof edge that protect the eaves) for peeling paint or soft, damp timber.

Cracked pointing (the mortar between bricks) is easy to ignore in December, but water getting into a crack and then freezing will widen it over winter. A small repair now avoids a much larger repointing job later. If you are not confident assessing brickwork yourself, this is a reasonable job to hand to a builder rather than attempt from a ladder in cold, wet conditions.

What can genuinely wait until spring

• Lawn care of any kind: mowing, feeding, scarifying, aerating
• Pruning most shrubs, which is better done when they are fully dormant in January or February
• Major fence repairs, unless a panel has already failed and is a safety risk
• Soil pH (the measure of acidity or alkalinity that affects plant growth) testing, since it is more useful once you are planning what to plant

For a fuller run of what is due in the weeks either side, see November and January, or check This Month in Your Garden and Home for the current view.