My November Garden

Lisa Hunter • November 8, 2021

It’s getting colder and wetter as we draw into November. Trees are putting on their autumn displays and winter stems start to come into their own. As autumn turns to winter, your main jobs in the garden are mostly about protecting plants and structures from the wilder weather to come.

There’s still sowing and growing to do this month to keep the garden ticking over. Here is a list of the top jobs to do in the garden during the month:

As the weather starts to get more wintry, your garden needs some protection:

Insulate your outdoor containers from frosts. Use hessian or bubble wrap held in place with garden twine.
Prevent containers becoming waterlogged by raising them off the ground for the winter using bricks or 'pot feet'.
Encourage hungry birds into your garden by investing in bird baths and bird feeders. Our feathered friends will keep garden pest numbers down and bring joy on a bleak winter’s day.
Protect roses from wind-rock by pruning them by one-third to half their height. This will stop them swaying in strong wind and prevent roots coming loose in the soil.

In the flower garden

Remove fallen leaves from around the base of any rose bushes which suffered from blackspot or rust this summer, to reduce the chance of reinfection next year.
Cut back the yellowing foliage of herbaceous perennial plants, and lift and divide overcrowded clumps to maintain their vigour.
Cut a few stems of holly with berries for making Christmas garlands. It’s early, but now’s the time to do it before the birds eat all the berries. Stand them in a bucket of water in a sheltered spot where birds can't take them.

In the vegetable garden

Lift parsnips after the first frosts, when their flavour will have sweetened.
Prepare a perennial vegetable bed to plant up with rhubarb plants and asparagus crowns.
Keep planting onion, shallot, and garlic sets. Dig over heavy soils adding organic matter before planting.
Spread well rotted farm manure across the surface of your vegetable beds to rot down over winter.
Check stored potatoes and remove any that are rotting. Use hessian sacks to store your potatoes to allow the crop to breathe.

In the fruit garden

Divide mature clumps of rhubarb once they’re dormant.
Plant bare root raspberry plants now for a delicious home-grown crop.
Tidy up your strawberry plants, cutting off any dead leaves and removing runners.
Prune apple and pear trees anytime between now and February.
Don't prune your plum trees now as they will be susceptible to the silver leaf fungus - wait until midsummer.
Remove the top netting from fruit cages as heavy snow in winter will make it sag.
Check fruits in storage and promptly remove any showing signs of disease or rotting.

Looking after your lawn

Aerate your lawn now before winter sets in. Either use a lawn aerator or simply insert a garden fork at regular intervals and lean it back slightly to let air in.
Continue to clear fallen leaves off the lawn to keep it healthy using a light rake.
Set your lawn mower to a higher cut-height for winter.
Edge your lawn. This is easy to do in the winter months once beds are clear. Lawn edging creates a neat and tidy appearance and makes maintenance easier throughout the year.

For more advice, tips and to order your plants, vegetable seeds and shrubs, visit Moss End Garden Village today and we’d be only too happy to help.

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