What's due this month
See the jobs that matter right now, sorted by month rather than by guesswork.
See this month's jobs →What to do in your garden and home, and when it actually needs doing
Jobs come with deadlines that are easy to miss and easy to imagine. This site sets out what needs doing this month, what depends on where you live or how old your house is, and what can honestly wait until spring.
See what's due in your garden and home this month Look at seasonal garden maintenance guidanceFind the right guide for the job
Garden, house or shed each keep their own seasonal rhythm. Start with whichever one is on your mind.
Garden maintenance through the year
Lawns, borders and beds, with timing that varies across the UK's regions.
Look at garden guidance →Home maintenance, room by room
Pointing, gutters and damp-proof courses: the jobs that get expensive if left too long.
Check home guidance →Sheds and outbuildings
Roof felt, timber rot and door hinges, covered on their own separate schedule.
Read shed guidance →Comparing materials and methods
Weigh up common choices, including what each one is bad at, not just what it suits.
Compare your options →The garden and home year, month by month
Find the current month and read down. Each entry covers the jobs that actually matter that month, in both garden and home; the rest can wait.
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January
Structural pruning and storm checks
Prune dormant fruit trees while they are leafless, and check the shed roof and guttering for damage after winter winds. Frost-cracked pots are worth spotting now, before a mild spell tempts you to plant into them.
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February
Seed beds and fascia checks
Chit potatoes on a windowsill and start preparing vegetable beds as the soil begins to warm. It is also a sensible month to check fascia and soffit boards, since winter storms tend to loosen them without anyone noticing until a leak shows.
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March
First cut and damp checks
Give the lawn its first cut on a dry day, on a high setting, and aerate it if the ground has stayed compacted over winter. Around the house, look for fresh damp patches inside, which usually point to something worth fixing outside.
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April
Bedding out and gutter checks
Begin hardening off young plants before moving them outdoors permanently, and give the lawn its first feed of the year. Clear gutters now, before the next heavy rain finds the blockage for you.
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May
Tender planting and pointing checks
Once the last frost has passed in your area, plant out tender crops and bedding. This is also a good month to check pointing on exterior walls before summer heat dries out any existing cracks further.
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June
Deadheading and timber checks
Deadhead roses and other repeat-flowering plants to keep them blooming through summer. Check any exposed shed or fence timber for early signs of rot while the wood is dry enough to inspect properly.
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July
Watering and roof checks
Containers and new plantings need regular watering in dry spells, more than established borders do. Dry, sunny weather is also the easiest time to spot cracked or slipped roof tiles from the ground.
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August
Harvesting and pest checks
Keep harvesting fruit and vegetables as they ripen, and cut back perennials that have finished flowering. Check for pest damage on soft fruit and brassicas while there is still time to act on it.
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September
Lawn recovery and bulb planting
Scarify the lawn to remove built-up thatch, then aerate it, and this is the best month for both. Plant spring-flowering bulbs now, and clear gutters again before autumn leaf fall starts in earnest.
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October
Leaf clearing and overwintering
Clear fallen leaves from lawns and beds before they smother the grass beneath, and begin overwintering any tender plants that will not survive outside. Check shed roof felt for splits before winter weather finds them.
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November
Deciduous pruning and frost protection
Start pruning deciduous trees once they are fully dormant, and move vulnerable pots somewhere sheltered before the first hard frost. Lag any outdoor taps and pipes now, rather than after they have already frozen.
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December
Tool care and storm watching
Clean and oil garden tools before storing them for winter, and keep an eye on the shed and fences after any named storms. It is a quiet month in the garden itself, which makes it a sensible one for checking what needs attention come spring.
Timings shift with the weather and with where you are in the UK: gardens in the north or at altitude typically run two to three weeks behind those in the south and west. Treat each month as a guide rather than a fixed date, and let the actual conditions outside have the final say.
How this site is organised
A lot of what needs doing around a house and garden can wait, but it rarely feels that way when you are looking at a lawn full of thatch or a hairline crack in the pointing and wondering if you have left it too late. This site starts from that question rather than from the job itself: what needs attention, when it genuinely needs attention, and what can wait until a better month without causing any harm.
Working by month
If you want a general read on what is worth doing right now, this month's guide covers the garden and the house together, because the two are usually connected: a wet spell that stops you cutting the grass is the same wet spell that makes gutter checks worth doing instead. Every month from January to December has its own page, so you can look ahead to what is coming or check whether you have missed a window.
Working by area
Some readers arrive with a specific area in mind rather than a month. Garden maintenance covers lawns, borders and the seasonal jobs that shift by a few weeks depending on where in the UK you are. Home maintenance covers the fabric of the building itself: pointing, damp-proof courses, fascia and soffit, the things that are easy to ignore until they are expensive. Sheds and outbuildings get treated separately, because a felt roof or a rotting sill behaves differently to the main house and often gets overlooked until it fails.
Comparing materials and methods
Where a job comes down to a choice, such as which type of decking or which fencing material suits a particular garden, the comparisons section sets out what each option is good at and what it is bad at. Neither side of a comparison is presented as the right answer for everyone, because soil, aspect, budget and how long you plan to stay in the house all change the calculation.
What this site will not tell you
Where an answer depends on your region, your soil, or the age of your building, that is stated plainly. A pruning date that suits the south of England can be weeks out for Scotland, and a damp problem in a Victorian solid wall behaves differently to one in a modern cavity wall. Some jobs described here are straightforward for a capable adult to do at a weekend; others, particularly anything involving roofs, structural work or gas and electrics, are flagged as jobs for a qualified professional, because pretending otherwise would not do you any favours.