November is a good month to finish winterizing your garden and to take time to take it easy, sit back and relax. Think about what went well in the garden and what didn’t and how you might do things differently in the following season.
The only thing we would recommend sowing now is overwintering broad beans in mild areas of the UK.
As the nights draw in and the frost looms it is nature’s time to rest. Compared to the abundance and vitality of summer, your November garden will feel quiet and still. While the harvests are still going strong you can turn your attention to tidying, clearing, propagating and mulching. Here are some ideas to add to your job list:
– Plant flowering bulbs ready for spring
– Go through your seed packets and start crop planning for 2025
– Rake and gather up any fallen autumn leaves, adding them to your compost or making your own leaf mould
– Take cuttings from healthy fruit bushes
– Divide herbaceous perennials, cutting back dead growth and mulching for winter
– Plant bare root fruit trees, bushes and shrubs
– Mulch any bare patches of soil with leaves, compost or straw
– Protect outdoor brassicas from pigeons with mesh
– Prune apple and pear trees and soft fruit bushes like currants and berries
– Move any tender plants indoors
– Clear out the last of tomatoes and cucumbers from indoors and add to compost
– Clear any annual climbers from their supports and store somewhere dry