With the festive season approaching the garden is often forgotten at this time of the year. November is, however, a very busy month for gardeners because this is the start of the planting season for all bare-root plants such as raspberries and hedging plants like privet, quick thorn, beech and hornbeam. This is the best month for moving established shrubs from one part of the garden to another. New season’s roses are ready for planting now. Spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips and narcissi will need to be planted by the end of the month if possible.

If not already done, replant tubs and window boxes with pansies, violas, cyclamen and bulbs. Any summer bedding plants in the garden must now be replaced with polyanthus, primroses, pansies, cyclamen and the like to give winter colour in the garden. Wallflowers, forget-me-nots, sweet williams and Canterbury bells should be planted to give colour next spring. Herbaceous plants that are ‘over’ should be cut down and divided if necessary. Penstemmons should only be given a light trim and grasses and plants with interesting seed-heads are best left intact until the spring. Cut back late-flowering clematis and trim shrubs. Clear up all the leaves that have fallen recently on lawns and paths and also those that are covering plants.

Get busy making compost: there will be plenty of leaves and plant clippings to do this and add a little Garotta powder to help the composting process. A great way of warming up on cold days is to dig and, when digging the vegetable garden, add farmyard manure to all areas except where root-crops are to be grown. November is the best time for sowing broad beans. Make sure that the cabbages are protected from the pigeons.

Carry on with mowing the lawn as long as the grass is growing, but set the mower on a high cut and do keep right off the grass when it’s wet. Make sure that the lawn mower gets a good service before next spring.

Clean out the greenhouse and insulate with bubble plastic. Dig up dahlia tubers, dust with sulphur dust and store away from frost. Take all the tender plants inside for the winter and stake and protect from wind the larger plants in the garden.

Terry Simmonds

Tags: Terry Simmonds