GARDENING: Brian Kidd with a list of weekend jobs

'¢Did you remember to cut back aubrieta? There is still time to do this. Give them liquid plant food afterwards.

'¢Spray rows of peas with copper mixture fungicide to reduce an outbreak of powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is one of the reasons people don't grow peas. Use the strength required to combat copper deficiency. The directions are on the green plastic bottles.

'¢Indoor hibiscus plants are growing rapidly. To keep them shorter, nip out the tips of all the main stems.

'¢Remove dead flowers from all annual flowers and in hot weather use a high nitrogen fertiliser instead of tomato food.

'¢Buy spring cabbage seeds. Try Duncan F1 or Offenheim 2. These don't bolt if the weather turns hot in spring. These must not be sown until the second week in August, I will remind you.

'¢Disbud dahlias. Leave the top bud and remove the two little ones which grow each side.

'¢When cutting dahlia blooms, long stems are required but before cutting look where the side shoots are left because these will come into bloom in a few weeks.

'¢Check out the glass in the greenhouse. If there are any sheets which need replacing, this is the time to do it. Replacing glass in winter is not an easy job.

'¢Keep an eye out for special offers of winter-flowering pansies by post. There are often special offers for early orders.'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹'‹