November
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
Late Autumn, November, although there may be warm spells the days are very short, use them wisely, get the jobs done asap before worse weather comes.
OUTDOORS
Water pot grown evergreens if stood in dry positions Still make sure weeds never get away, so hoe when soil conditions allow Add extra mulch on top of thinning ones Cut the grass at least fortnightly collecting the fallen leaves with the clippings or raking them onto now empty or dormant beds and borders Give your last cut then send mower for servicing ready for next year Lime tough grass swards (only if no ericaceous plants nearby) with garden lime aka ground chalk to discourage acid loving weeds such as speedwell Turn cooked compost heaps, sieve and store mature ones too This is a windy month so check fences, tree stakes and straps before and after gales Cover slightly tender subjects left in ground with bracken, fleece or even a mound of chunky bark but never wrap in plastic sheet Check and re-label trees and shrubs- and ps wooden pegs and pencil used firmly last longer than most alternatives Finish pruning trees and shrubs before colder weather comes Plant out bare rooted deciduous shrubs, trees and roses if soil is in good condition Getting late but can still take cuttings of easy subjects, buddleija, roses and so on so do so now! Sow green manures or annual flowers on any bare soil Get any remaining daffodil and tulip bulbs planted as soon as possible
Cover crowns of vulnerable plants with sharp sand versus late slugs Don’t tidy back herbaceous flowering plants until the stems have withered or the plant loses nutrients Do tidy away withered back herbaceous tops but leave long stubs to protect new shoots Dig, split and replant herbaceous plants rather than wait and rush in spring Put a sieved mulch of spent potting compost over patches of bulbs and crowns of died down herbaceous plants to prevent weeds germinating there Weed and tidy now before a hectic social season robs your time Grab those ashes from clean bonfires once they’re cool and keep them dry till needed for the garden- or simply spread around old trees especially cooking apples Collect up garden canes and store somewhere really dry, say a roof-space, so they’ll keep for another year not rot where they stand Have a bucket of sharp sand ready to sprinkle on icy and slippery paths and stepping stones to give secure footing Take all remaining hosepipes and plastic watering cans, empty pots etc under cover before hard frosts make them too brittle to move Put a football in ponds or pools to keep a hole thro’ any ice Go on, clean the muck and dead leaves out of the pool! Collect every scrap of available material and make compost before real cold weather arrives Empty and clean out gutters and water butts, and renew sock filter on down-pipe Fill bird baths with fresh water on frozen mornings so the birds can have a drink and keep this topped up and de-iced Put up some new bird boxes and clean out old ones (be careful –full of nasties!) ready for prospective lodgers in the new year AND in the orchard and fruitcage Get any unfinished pruning done, especially grapevines A bit late but can still take and root cuttings of soft fruit Cut shoots of fruit trees to keep in cool and dark till you graft next spring With bare branches now check usually hidden ties are not getting too tight as wood will have swelled since last year! Plant out bare rooted fruit trees and soft fruit if soil is in good condition If soil frozen or waterlogged put bare rooted plants in tubs or bags of moist potting compost (you will recover the compost later when you plant out) Touch up the sticky tree bands on trunks of fruit trees versus cawling pests AND in the vegetable plot Lime the vegetable beds, ideally one quarter of vegetable plot each year, best before brassicas or legumes and never just before potatoes It’s getting too late to plant garlic in open, better do so in pots under cover Twist the top off Brussel’s sprout plants then the sprouts will swell the more Dig some carrots to keep in a cool and dark place in case of hard frosts freezing ground solid In colder areas or if very cold weather is predicted harvest and store under cover cabbages, leeks and root vegetables
ORDER
Look for discounted Halloween goods such as fake spiders that will make great bird scarers next spring Stake your claim on the ashes of any bonfire you see and get them before they’re wet
Winter festivities only a month away so get pot grown holly, skimmia and mahonia plants to use as live decoration in cool rooms Buy nice houseplants for gifts now; and enjoy them a month for free! Buy a Lonicera fragrantissima in a large pot –even if you never plant it it will give you delicious wee flowers for months from deepest winter on Order fruit trees for mid December delivery for gifts for friends Order next years seeds now well before rush starts
UNDER COVER
Go through stored fruit and vegetables- remove rotting ones and look for fresh pest damage- if any put in a slug pub or mouse trap as indicated As you get new seed packets for next year put them in a tin box in a cool dry dark place so they don’t go off Customise your potting shed- make it snugger, cosier and quieter- line the walls with old carpet then the ceiling and put several layers on the floor Prepare aluminum cans now as anti-slug barriers in spring- neatly cut circular rings work but are obviously better when cut with old pinking shears Go through your seed packets and throw out those which failed this year or are more than a few years old and opend Put unused unopened and out of date seed packets in well sealed plastic container and deeply bury as a time capsule for future interest Send in your seed orders asap if not done so already
GREENHOUSE
On warm days ventilate greenhouse, tunnel and coldframe plants as much as possible Only water when a plants desperate for it, and never splash it about Keep your watering can full indoors near a radiator or other warm place so you give your plants less of a shock when you water them Sow spring onions, radishes and rocket in pots on sunny windowsills Inspect plants under cover carefully remove every dead leaf, stem, twig or flower as it is on these mould will most often Clean greenhouse glass inside and out as dirt reduces light significantly Now clean cloches and cold frame glass/plastic as well