Gardening jobs this month: November

What to do in the garden in November, from the gardening experts of House Beautiful, Prima and Country Living

From House Beautiful's gardening expert, Denise Brock

 

■ Gather up leaves and store them for next year's compost. Make holes in a plastic sack and fill with leaves, adding a little water if very dry. Tuck away out of sight until next autumn when the leaf mould will have broken down.

■ Fill gaps in flower borders. Plant wallflowers for bright shades and to
fill the garden with fragrance, as well as tulip bulbs for contrasting colour and height.

■ Tidy up your blackberry bushes. Branches that have borne fruit should be pruned to soil level. Tie new stems into place and encourage new roots by burying cane tips in the soil.

 

■ Start a compost trench for next year's runner beans. Organic gardening charity, Garden Organic, recommends burying kitchen waste at a spade's depth. Cover with soil every time you add to it to protect it from foxes. For more organic info visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk. Click here for how to build your own compost bin

 

From Prima gardening expert Ann-Marie Powell:

■ Plant tulip bulbs.

■ Apply a thick mulch to your borders, especially over less hardy plants, such as agapanthus and kniphofia.

 

■ Plant garlic cloves if you're in an area with a mild climate. How to plant garlic

 

■ Dig over empty borders, particularly in the vegetable plot, so frost can help break down large clods of earth.

 

■ Bring some herbs into the kitchen to use over winter.

 

■ Plant winter bedding plants such as wallflowers, winter pansies and forget-me-nots.

 

■ Continue lifting, splitting and replanting overgrown clumps of herbaceous perennials.

 

■ Cut back pelargoniums and keep them in the greenhouse over winter ready for planting out next spring.

 

■ Keep clearing up fallen autumn leaves from the lawn and flowerbeds.

 

■ Prune back shrub roses to prevent their shallow roots from being lifted
in strong winter winds.

■ Plant roses.

 

 

From Country Living gardening editor Stephanie Donaldson:

■ Plant tulip bulbs - bury holly leaves with bulbs if squirrels are a problem

■ Cut back flowering shrubs and tall roses by half to reduce wind damage over winter. Clean greenhouses and cold-frame glass

■ Sow sweet peas in a cold greenhouse

 

■ Sow broad beans and early peas and protect with fleece

 

 

---

You might also like...

Get more gardening advice here: planting ideas, expert ideas and inspiration