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November is the season of cosy evenings gathered around the bonfire, toasting marshmallows and watching fireworks sizzle in the cold night air while warming your hands against the flames. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to do in the garden though: so here’s our list of jobs to do this month.

Autumn is the perfect time to make some compost and turn all those spent plants you’re clearing out of the veg garden into lovely crumbly organic matter that’s the best soil improver there is.

Colours this late in the season are look-at-me bright: a last ditch flourish to remind you how fabulous a plant can look before you sink into the sepia tones of winter. Solidago is one of the flashiest of them all, a fireworks explosion of yellow that erupts from a hot-coloured exotic border like so many rockets.

Lift and store dahlia tubers as soon as the frost blackens the stems. In milder areas with free-draining soil, you can risk leaving them outdoors over winter, as dahlias can cope with a little frost.

Plant a grapevine now in a sunny spot and you can make the most of the warm soil and damp weather to settle it in beautifully by next spring when it bursts into growth again. Growing grapes is becoming hugely popular these days, as the summers get warmer and last longer. All they need is a sheltered spot, ideally against a wall to hold in the warmth, or failing that a greenhouse to make sure those luscious fruits ripen.

The garden is ablaze in October, with berrying shrubs laden with brilliantly colourful jewels and trees turning every shade of crimson, copper and ochre. But winter isn’t far off now, so make your garden is tucked up and the harvest gathered in with our list of jobs to do this month.