Get out and about in some stunning gardens this winter

If you haven't celebrated Capability Brown's 300th anniversary this year, there's still time to visit his majestic landscapes, while the National Trust offers a wealth of winter wonderlands and the RHS stages a range of horticultural events.

Here's just a few of the best gardens to give you space to think before Christmas takes over...

:: Dingle Nurseries and Garden, Frochas, Welshpool, Powys

This family-run business has devoted a 4.5-acre area for a spectacular RHS partner garden taking in the mid-Wales rolling hills and is famed for its colour-themed and unusual planting. At this time of year, head for the lake to admire the brightly-stemmed dogwoods and trees with eye-catching bark, including eucalyptus and superb birches, as well as the paper bark maple (Acer griseum). It also has great collections of conifers and shrubs, including witch-hazel and daphne (dinglenurseryandgarden.co.uk; 01938 555 145).

:: Croome Court, Worcester

Take in a guided tour of the gardens and parkland Capability Brown designed with stunning views over the Malverns at Croome Court. Guided tours run until December 31, with temples, follies and statues around every corner. If you want to explore on your own, downloadable walks, including a winter welly walk to Pirton Castle, are available from www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

:: RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Adorned with daphnes, witch hazels, birch trees and maples, the striking stem colours and variety of forms, textures and breath-taking scents make this one of the largest and oldest concentrations of winter horticulture in the north of England. Kids can get involved in the festive garden detective trail, while Magic of Christmas days offer family fun to get you in the festive spirit. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Winter Walk, some 5,000 irises have been planted and will bloom in early spring (www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr).

:: Trentham Gardens, near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs

Top designer Piet Oudolf's Rivers of Grass is a sight to behold in winter. The gardens are open throughout the holiday, apart from Christmas Day itself, and the Italian Garden, designed by Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith, is also stunning in winter. Book a skating session on their lakeside rink (trentham.co.uk; 01782 646646).

:: Cotehele, Cornwall

When the residents of Cotehele first hung a modest, floral Christmas display in the hall six decades ago, little did they know how their simple decoration would turn into the magnificent and famous tradition it is today. To celebrate the garland's 60 years, the gardeners have secret plans to give it a new look. All of the flowers (20,000-35,000 depending on the growing season) are grown and dried on the estate and the garland will be hung until December 31 (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cotehele).

:: Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, Yorkshire

Get into the Christmas spirit at Fountains with a music and lights event on selected afternoons in December. Tuck into a hot pulled pork sandwich and a mulled wine from the visitor centre then wander through the estate to see the trees twinkling with light and the abbey all aglow. Stop by the cellarium to catch some live festive music (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fountainsabbey).

BEST OF THE BUNCH - Kalanchoe

This pretty houseplant used to be bought as a Christmas-flowering gift plant, but now it is available in flower all year round. K. blossfeldiana, a succulent native to Madagascar, is popular during the festive season because of its clusters of colourful blooms which can last around six to eight weeks, in colours of white, yellow, orange, lilac, pink or red blooms, borne in large heads on 30cm-high plants with succulent deep green leaves. Named varieties include 'Bali' and 'Vesuvius', which are both red, and the orange-flowered 'Tarantella'. Kalanchoes like bright light, but not direct sunlight, so avoid placing them on very sunny windowsills. They need an average warmth of around 50C in winter. The most common mistake is to overwater them, so let the surface soil dry out between watering and they should last you through the festive season and beyond.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT - Horseradish

This fiery vegetable makes the horseradish sauce that goes so well with roast beef and, in more recent times, has become popular in mayonnaise to accompany smoked salmon dishes. It's easy to grow, but is best cultivated in a bottomless bucket as it's an invasive perennial with deep roots which regrow when they are broken off. Buy the plants from specialist herb nurseries, dig a hole to house the bottomless bucket, leaving 2.5cm of the bucket above the surface so the roots are contained. Refill the bucket with compost and push a cane into the soil to make a hole, then feed a single long, thin root into it, leaving the tip at ground level. Plant three roots 60cm apart in a triangular shape for a good clump. You need to wait two years before collecting your first crop to allow strong roots to develop. Dig up one plant in the autumn, when the flavour is strongest, and keep back one long 'thong' from the root to replant and replace its parent.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

:: Put a floating ball or a piece of polystyrene in ponds to stop the water freezing.

:: Stake Brussels sprouts with sturdy canes and remove dead or dying leaves around the bottom of plants.

:: Do some weeding if the ground is soft enough, to give you a head start for spring.

:: Fill border gaps with new perennials.

:: Move plants which don't work in their current spot while they are dormant, but the ground is still workable.

:: Stop rabbits attacking your trees by placing a tree guard around the trunk.

:: Buy hippeastrum (amaryllis) now to get the best selection of bulbs, but hold off planting in the greenhouse until February as they'll struggle in the low light levels of winter.

:: Prune blackcurrants, removing a quarter of the older stems at the base.

:: Send petrol mowers to be serviced.

:: Buy in well-rotted farmyard manure or mushroom compost to mulch borders and dig into soil.

:: Continue to harvest carrots, parsnips, leeks, beetroot, winter cabbage and Brussels sprouts.