There is a particular quiet that settles over a British garden in late November. The last of the cosmos has gone over, the lawn stays rimed with dew until mid-morning, and the first proper frost is somewhere just over the horizon. An afternoon or two of work now will see your plants through the cold and give the creatures that share your plot a fighting chance.

Start with the pots

Container plants feel the cold far more keenly than anything in the ground. Their roots sit above soil level, exposed on every side, and compost in a terracotta pot can freeze solid within a night or two of a sharp snap. A little shelter goes a long way.

• Raise every pot onto pot feet, bricks or a layer of gravel so water drains freely instead of pooling and freezing around the base.
• Group pots together against a south- or west-facing wall. The mass of compost and the warmth of the brickwork create a small microclimate that can be two or three degrees kinder than the open garden.
• Wrap the outside of vulnerable pots with bubble wrap, hessian or an old blanket, tied with twine. Leave the compost surface uncovered so rain can still reach it and air can move.
• Plunge terracotta pots up to their rims in a spare bed or a heap of bark chippings. Terracotta is porous and unforgiving; frost will split it if it is left exposed.

Cut back on watering, but do not stop altogether. On a mild morning, check the compost with a finger and water sparingly if it is dry, giving the surface time to dry off before nightfall. Evergreens in pots lose moisture through their leaves all winter and are the ones most often lost to drought rather than cold.

Mulch the borders, but time it right

Mulch is the single best investment you can make in the soil. A generous layer — 5–7cm (2–3in) of well-rotted manure, garden compost or leaf mould — insulates the ground, keeps its temperature more even and cushions the freeze-and-thaw cycle that heaves shallow-rooted plants clean out of the soil.

Timing matters. Wait until the soil is cold but not yet frozen, which in most of the UK means late November into December, and mulch ground that is already damp. Spreading mulch over dry soil simply locks the dryness in, while laying it onto frozen ground traps the cold beneath it. On heavy, waterlogged clay it is usually wiser to wait until spring.

Keep the material clear of stems and crowns. A collar of mulch piled against the base of a hardy perennial invites rot, and shrubs resent it against their trunks. Leave a small ring of bare soil around each plant and let the mulch do its work further out, over the roots.

Leave the seed heads standing

Resist the urge to cut everything down. Teasels, echinacea, rudbeckia, sedum, alliums, cardoons and the fluffy heads of asters all hold their shape through the worst of the weather, and a hard frost picking them out on a bright morning is one of the finest sights the winter garden offers.

They are working, too. Goldfinches will strip the teasels and sunflowers, while the seed heads of umbellifers feed whatever is still foraging. Cut herbaceous perennials back to 20–30cm (8–12in) rather than to ground level, and leave the hollow stems in place: solitary bees and other insects shelter in them over winter. Pile the cuttings loosely in a quiet corner instead of taking them to the tip — a heap of stems and leaves is a hotel for beetles, frogs and hedgehogs.

A lifeline for birds, hedgehogs and frogs

• Feeders: offer high-fat food — sunflower hearts, suet balls, peanuts — and clean feeders every fortnight with hot soapy water, rinsing well to prevent disease.
• Water: put out a shallow dish and refresh it each morning, melting the ice with warm water rather than cracking it. Float a small twig or a ball on the surface so birds can drink without tumbling in.
• Ponds: never smash the ice; the shock can kill fish and frogs hibernating in the silt. Rest a pan of hot water on the surface to melt a hole, and keep one open through the coldest spells so gases can escape.
• Shelter: build a log pile, leave a mound of leaves in a border corner, and always check a bonfire heap before you light it.

Lawns, wind and the last of the tidying

Raise the mower blade for the final cuts of the year, and keep off the grass on frosty mornings — walking on frozen turf bruises the blades and leaves brown footprints that linger until spring. If a thaw lifts a plant out of the ground, firm it back gently with your boot rather than a stamp.

Walk the garden after the first gales. Check tree ties and stakes, retie any loose climbers, and make sure nothing is rubbing against a wall or fence. For borderline plants, a wrap of horticultural fleece or a cloche will buy you several degrees, and tree ferns appreciate their crowns packed with straw and tied. Lift dahlias and cannas after the first blackening frost, dry the tubers and store them somewhere cool, dark and frost-free.

None of this takes long, and much of it is less work than the summer garden demands. Do it once, then leave the plot to settle into its winter sleep — the birds, the bees and next spring's growth will all thank you for it.