Jobs for November
The Flower Garden
Sowing and Growing
Start sowing sweet peas for next year – overwinter under cover.
Take root cuttings from perennials like anchusa, phlox, verbascum, oriental poppy and acanthus.
Bulbs and Tubers
Plant the last of your autumn bulbs, eg tulips. Don't forget to put some in pots as well as in the garden.
Plant Paperwhite narcissi for Christmas (by the middle of the month).
Continue to plant indoor hyacinths (such as Hyacinth 'White Pearl') to stagger flowering.
Check forcing bulbs for roots and shoots. When they have approximately 3cm (1in) growth, bring them in to a cool windowsill.
Check stored summer bulbs for any signs of rot.
Fruit
Start pruning apple and pear trees. Cut back the leader branches by a third and remove completely any branches that are crossing and rubbing against each other. Mulch after pruning.
Plant a fruit tree – an apple or pear. Dig a hole twice the size of the rootball and break up the base, adding plenty of organic matter (leaf mould or manure). Plant the tree to the same level as it was previously. As with roses, this ensures the graft is below soil level.
Summer-fruiting raspberries and blackberries need cutting back, tying in etc. Leave autumn-fruiting raspberries until later in the winter.
Tidy strawberry beds, cutting back old foliage and congested runners and removing weeds.
The garden undergoes a lot of change in November, as its colours begin to fade and it becomes a little less productive than it was in late summer. There's plenty to get on with to prepare for next year, and there's still much produce to savour and enjoy.
The Flower Garden
The Vegetable Garden
Other Jobs
Vegetable Garden
Start planning next year’s vegetable crop to allow for a good rotation of crops. Growing the same type of crops on the same ground each year can cause a build up of pests and diseases affecting that type of crop. Crops can be grouped as follows: roots, brassicas, legumes (peas, beans) and everything else (potatoes, onions, tomatoes). Move your crops around each year so that the same group of crops isn’t in the same area for more than one season.
Sow pea tips. Sow a box or gutter pipe of pea tips inside, ready for salads, soups or risottos at Christmas. Scatter the seed across the length and width of the compost and put them anywhere cool, but in good light. Sown now, you can pick straight from the gutter pipe – no garden required.
Continue to plant garlic, as it likes a period of dormancy and cold prior to growing away in the spring.
Sow hardy peas under fleece for an early crop next year.
Clear away climbing beans, then pull up, clean and store away canes and supports.
Improve soil, digging over bare ground and forking in bulky, well-rotted manure. Digging it now will allow time for cold winter weather to break down clay into a more workable soil.
Other jobs
Water pots outside if you have experienced a very dry spell.
Ensure containers are lifted off the ground to prevent waterlogging.
Spike lawns and brush sharp sand or grit into the holes to improve drainage.
Rake up leaves from all around the garden and pack them, still damp, into string sacks or even black bin liners with a few holes pierced through to ensure at least a little air circulation. Then put the filled sacks somewhere out of the way and forget about them for a year or so. The leaves will slowly rot down into leaf mould, perfect for soil conditioning and mulching the garden this time next year.
Empty the contents of well-composted bins and spread over bare soil.