Action plan: Nigel Colborn’s essential jobs for your garden this week 

TACKLE THE ROUGH GRASS 

Farmers are making hay right now. So if you have rough grass planted with daffodils and other spring bulbs, you may as well follow suit and cut it now.

Daffodil foliage has withered and little bulbs, such as crocuses or scillas, will have seeded, thereby boosting flower numbers for years to come.

Set your mower or rough-cutter blades high for the first outing. If possible, leave the mown area to dry for a few days before raking up grass clippings for disposal.

By doing so, you will have enabled any wildflowers growing among the grass to have shed seed, too.

Rough grass with cowslips and other spring flora is becoming increasingly fashionable. As well as looking lovely in season, it’s great for pollinators. You can plant cowslips and other spring beauties, such as primroses, as plugs. These are usually supplied later, for autumn planting.

You could also grow your own from seed. Once the young plants are established, they will self-sow and, if happy, will create flower communities that will delight you in future years.

Do not confuse spring meadows with those of summer, though.

I have both, but on a small scale.

Spring meadows, focusing on bulbs and early flowers, are cut back in June. They’re then regularly trimmed, though not close-mown, until winter.

Summer meadows are routinely left untouched until late in the season. I usually mow my minimeadow in August.

Online seed and plant suppliers include Naturescape (nature scape.co.uk) and Landlife Wildflowers (wildflower.co.uk).

WEED THE RIOT ACT 

Rain and hot, humid weather worked wonders with summer plants. But the weeds are now shooting up twice as fast. Weeding by hand is more effective than a hoe, but takes time.

With perennial weeds such as bindweed, docks or creeping thistle, you could spotweed with glyphosate. But make sure not a drop falls on your treasured plants.

IT’S SPROUTS TIME 

Young Brussels sprouts can be planted now. This should result in firm, tasty sprouts from mid-October until long after Christmas. Seedsmen such as dobies.co.uk may still have young plants available — but act fast. Plant them on arrival, 50cm apart in fertile, fast-draining soil. Purple sprouting broccoli can go in now, too.

QUESTION 

We moved to the country last autumn. An old hawthorn hedge runs along one side of our garden and is infested with ivy. Is there an easy way to remove it? 

Mr G. Tanner.

I’m afraid there’s no easy solution. Wait until November when the hawthorn leaves will have fallen. Then cut the hedge back hard to give easier access to the ivy.

Next, pull or tease out as much as you can.

The hawthorn will grow back strongly next spring. You can then cut it a couple of times in the summer with a final cut in mid-winter.

The ivy will still be there but should be easier to control.

PLANT OF THE WEEK: CLEMATIS ‘GENERAL SIKORSKI’

It’s almost impossible not to love this large-flowered clematis. In late spring, huge, vivid blue-purple flowers are carried on last year’s stems. And new shoots that appear in summer must be allowed to develop.

In early autumn, mature plants produce a second flush of blooms but are tough enough to endure September winds. The spidery seed heads are also attractive. General Sikorski needs cool, fertile soil to thrive. For maximum flowering, the top growth needs full light and shelter from the wind. Pruning is seldom necessary.