Gardening tips for November
As leaves fall carpeting the ground in a tapestry of fiery colours, structural evergreen plants start to take centre stage. Deciduous trees and shrubs reveal their lovely stem structure and bark colours while clusters of berries and fruits hang from branches.
Indoors
- Pot up Amaryllis bulbs for flowering over the festive period, moving bowls of earlier planted fragrant Hyacinths or Narcissus Paper Whites to a brighter position to grow on for Christmas flower colour.
Tubs and Baskets
- November is a great time to plant winter bedding. Pansies, Violas and winter flowering Heathers are all proven winners. Plant with ruby red Skimmia, Hellebore (Christmas Rose), winter flowering Viburnum and trailing Ivy for a seasonal look.
- Protect any prized outdoor plants and containers by lifting them off the ground with pot-feet to help prevent waterlogging during the winter months.
Beds and Borders
- Tulip bulbs are best planted in November, so get them in now for a great display during May & June. Combine with drifts of winter hardy bedding plants for a colourful spring display.
- Cut back summer-flowering shrubs such as Buddleia and Lavatera by half to prevent wind rock and give evergreen hedges their final trim for a neat, crisp finish.
- Plant new hedges, such as Beech, Hawthorn and Privet. It’s also the best time to fill gaps and rejuvenate a hedge with fresh plants.
Cottage Garden
- Lift and store tender dahlias touched by the first frosts, cut back and tidy faded cottage garden perennials and prune Roses by one third to prevent wind rock.
- Leave grasses and seed heads for their architectural interest, but also to support our valuable garden wildlife and pollinators over the winter.
Fruit Garden
- Harvest the last of the apples and pears and store in a cool airy shed on slatted benching for good air circulation, carrying out any necessary tree pruning between now and February.
- New season ranges of soft fruit, raspberry canes and fruit trees are available for planting now, to ensure you have a great crop next summer.
Garden Tidy Up
- Clean, oil and sharpen garden tools, and book the lawn mower in for its winter service.
- Cover garden furniture with winter covers to protect from heavy rain.
- Clear fallen leaves from the garden pond to protect wildlife and from paths and patios to reduce slippery algae forming.
- For the benefit of garden wildlife, leave some areas of the garden untouched as a winter sanctuary for insects and hibernating hedgehogs.
Lawn
- Rake up fallen leaves to prevent them smothering and eventually killing off your grass. Mix into your compost heap, or store in a separate pen for rotting down into leaf-mould.
- Scarify established lawns to remove dead thatch, which can stifle growth in the winter months. Spike the surface with a fork or lawn aerator and apply lawn dressing to help improve drainage.
- In early November you can still apply an autumn lawn feed to strengthen the grass over the winter.
Garden Birds
One of the joys of winter is watching our colourful garden birds, so reliant on the food and fresh water we put out to sustain them through the winter months.
Position feeders as close to the house as possible, using a variety of seeds and nuts to attract a wide range of birds to your garden. Once they find you, they will become daily visitors, sheltering from the worst of the weather in your trees, shrubs and hedges.
Put up nest boxes to entice them to stay in readiness for the new spring season.