Welcome to The Bugle’s new gardening column with local expert John Gabriele, helping you get the best out of your patch year-round.

We’re kicking things off with a winter must-do: pruning your roses.

If you’ve got roses in your garden, now’s the time to give them a good cut back. It might seem daunting but it’s easier than you think when you do it correctly.

Winter pruning is one of the most important things you can do to keep your roses healthy and blooming beautifully come spring. The trick is to follow a few simple rules.

First, get yourself a good, sharp pair of secateurs. And gloves! Those thorns can do a number on your hands.

Step one is removing any dead or diseased wood - that’s always the starting point. Then we move on to shaping the plant. 

The goal is to open up the centre of the bush so air can flow through, which helps prevent fungal diseases in the warmer months.

I like to prune fairly hard. Roses are very forgiving and respond with strong, fresh growth. Always cut back to an outward-facing bud on a 45-degree angle to direct water away from the bud.

Once you’ve finished pruning, it’s time to apply lime sulphur.

This acts as a fungicide and helps protect against black spot, rust, and other common rose diseases. Make sure you cover the cuts, spray the bush, and treat about a metre around the base to eliminate any spores hiding in the soil or mulch.

Give your secateurs a clean and sharpen before packing up - and you’re done!

Come spring, you’ll be rewarded with lush new growth and stunning flowers.

What to plant now

Now’s the perfect time to get into your veggie patch.

I recommend planting oriental cabbage, pak choi, sun choi, Asian broccoli - and two of my favourites: snow peas and sugar-snap peas.

You can grow peas from punnets or seed. I like to soak the seeds in seaweed solution for 20 minutes before planting.

Space them about 5cm apart and make sure they’ve got something to climb on. A strip of fencing wire is ideal.

It’s a great way to get the kids involved in the garden, too.