Now that the weather has got cooler it's a great time to start feeding your garden birds. It really does the heart good to see them feeding happily on cold wintery days. We've an incredible selection of bird food and bird care here at Ardcarne Garden Centre. See below for some great offers this week.

We've been busy putting together our Christmas Shop in both our centres. As usual you'll find the best and latest Christmas styles and Home Decor. Do pop in for a look - we've already sold out of some items! We've a Christmas Family Weekend coming up too which promises to be a great fun weekend for all the family. (see below for dates and details)

Hope to see you soon

Just when you think most shrubs are going into winter rest mode, the mahonias come to the rescue with clusters of yellow flowers. Get close enough to these frost-hardy blooms are you'll be rewarded with a lily-of-the-valley fragrance.

Even without their late autumn and winter blooms the mahonias are fabulous architectural-looking shrubs with spiny evergreen leaves. And they thrive in shade. Look out for good named varieties such as Mahonia 'Charity' and 'Wintersun'.

Did You Know...The Mahonia is named after an Irishman, Bernard McMahon, who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1796 and set up a nursery specialising in the use and appreciation of native American plants.

Job of the week: Sow sweet peas to overwinter

Sowing sweet peas in autumn means the plants get a head start, and can usually be planted out much earlier than those sown in spring – so you get earlier flowers, too. Sow into deep pots filled with multi-purpose compost and pop into the cold frame, cool greenhouse or a bright windowsill to germinate. Grow them on undercover, then plant outside from March onwards.

Flowers:                      

• Plant tulips in pots and borders for maximum wow factor next year
• Add a colourful splash to containers and hanging baskets with winter-flowering pansies
• Lift cannas, dahlias and other tender perennials once temperatures fall

Fruit & veg:                 

• Clear vegetable beds of weeds as you finish harvesting crops                                
• Plant garlic about 5cm deep and 15cm apart in rich soil                                   
• Lift and divide rhubarb, replanting divisions into enriched soil

Greenhouse:               

• Pot up cooking herbs to bring in onto a bright windowsill for winter use
• Pack the tubers of dahlias and cannas in damp sand for winter
• Clean glass thoroughly to let in as much light as possible          

Around the garden:     

• Plant bare-root deciduous hedges once they cecome available in the garden centre this month
• Finish autumn lawn care, scarifying, spiking and topdressing before winter
• Cut down on feeding fish as they slow down for winter