· With the moist soil from recent rains and the following fine weather, creepers and climbers are really on the move, creating long runners of tendrils that need heading off. Prune the tips off from long stems and they will produce lots of short side shoots that produce the flowers on your Wisteria and other flowering vines.

· You need to remove the rapidly growing tips from your pumpkins and watermelons too or else they produce too many male flowers and not enough female flowers, which are of course are the only ones that set fruits.

· The rain has also leached nutrients from potted plants, which explain why so many look yellow and feebler at present. A water-soluble fertilizer added to the container will se that turn around quickly. Use the same fertilizer on any other plants in the garden that look a bit yellow at present too.

· Fungal diseases have gone ballistic this week, so spray a succession of at least three from the following: Triforine, Bayleton®, Bordeaux Mixture and Mancozeb™ and I’d use a copper spray such as Kocide ™ or Copper oxychloride in that rotation too.

· If powdery mildew, rusts and black spot persist after using those sprays, remove any mulch and scarify the soil to create a dry microclimate under your roses or affected plants.

· The moist soil produce fungal wilts that have already taken toll of three of the heritage tomatoes (Wallaville, ES58 and Kiokomo) I planted, however Indian River (also a heritage type) , LeGeff™, Dynamite™, grafted Gross Lisse and Mighty Red™ all look sturdy and disease free, unaffected by any of the wilts. First sign of wilt, remove the bush and replace with a resistant variety! There is no cure.

· The heavy clay loam soil in this area will cause a lot of fungal root rot on conifers where water lies, unless you act quickly over the next week. Get a bag of gypsum and spread at the rate of 300 grams per square metre in the area of the root run under the trees and just lightly scarify it in. That will improve drainage quickly.

· If planting new conifers remember they need superphosphate at planting time, but spread it on the surface and not into the planting hole.

· If you are about to buy a cut pine for a Christmas tree, put seaweed or kelp extract into the water to keep it turgid over the next three weeks and top up the water every day because a two metre pine uses about 0.1 litre (3.5 ounces) to 0.25 litres (9 ounces) of water a day in warm weather.