Gardening in November: guide to fall garden care

The guide for gardening in November

Discover the essential winter preparation with your complete November checklist for planting, pruning, and frost protection.

November is a key month to prepare your garden for the cold season. Clean, as well as insulate, flower and vegetable beds, plant your spring bulbs and make sure to prune any trees and shrubs in need of maintenace. You can also dedicate time to indoor plant care by starting houseplants, forcing bulbs and making plans for the next garden season.

Fall garden clean up for winter preparation

What to do with fall leaves in November?

Planting in November: bulbs, fruit, and root stock

Transplanting Trees, Shrubs, and Perennials

Supporting garden wildlife in November

Conclusion

1. Fall garden clean up for winter preparation

Frost protection and storage essentials: lift and store tubers, insulate containers, use cold frames
Winterize tools and equipment: clean and disinfect tools, oil and store, drain water system, store clay pots
Winterizing the water garden: net your pond and prevent hard freezing.

Temperatures are likely to dip into single figures in November, meaning there’s a good chance you’ll soon be waking up to a frosty garden. If you haven’t already, lift begonias, dahlia tubers and other flowers like gladioli and bring them into a dry storage area for winter.

Pots and other outdoor containers should be insulated using hessian or even bubble wrap to protect them against frost. You can do the same in the greenhouse to stop it getting too cold – just place bubble wrap along the inside of the frame. It’s also worth considering building a cold frame if you’ve got young plants in your beds that can’t be moved inside.

2. What to do with fall leaves in November?

Raking: finding the balance managing leaves by raking regularly and leaving some
The power of leafmould: composting and mulching

There’s plenty to do this month to prepare your garden for its quietest season. Get rid of leaves that have fallen from infected plants, such as rose bushes that suffered blackspot, to reduce the likelihood of the disease coming back.

You should regularly rake other fallen leaves off the lawn to keep it looking its best. Our top November gardening tip? If you want to make leafmould to put into your soil, now is the best time to begin. Shredding your leaves will help them rot down even quicker, meaning your leafmould could be ready in around a year.

November is also your last chance to finish any overdue jobs, like raising pots to prevent them getting waterlogged, painting fences, trimming hedges, cleaning water butts and installing lawn edging. If you’ve got time, it’s also wise to aerate your lawn (you can use a garden fork to do this) and give the ground a final watering before it freezes.

3. Planting in November: bulbs, fruit, and root stock

Spring bulbs and flowers
Fruit and root stock

There are plenty of flowers to plant in November. Whether you’re growing hardier flowers like tulips, bare-root roses and daffodils, or prefer delicate varieties that need to be started in the greenhouse, now’s the time to plant spring flowers. Sweet peas, foxglove and lupin can be sown inside in preparation for next year, while pansies, violas, heather and primulas can go straight into beds.

If you’re wondering which fruits and vegetables to plant in November, you can plant strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants and blueberries at this time of year. Pear and apple trees should be ready to prune, but you’ve got until February to tackle this job. And if you’ve already got a healthy vegetable patch, it’s time to harvest parsnips and make sure heavy brussel sprouts and brassicas are properly supported with stakes.

Read our article "What to plant in November" for more detailed input on this topic.

4. Transplanting Trees, Shrubs, and Perennials

Transplanting established plants
Planting new trees

November is one of the best times of the year to move or plant established plants.

Transplanting plants comes with many benefits. From updating your garden design, getting ahead of the new garden season to providing additional space for the roots to grow, the list is long.

Dig up the plant and move it carefully, but swiftly into the new hole, that should be wider than the root ball. Once you filled the hole and firmed the soil around it, water the plant generously.

Top tip: Transplant your plants after a rainy day. This will ease the process of digging them up.

5. Supporting garden wildlife in November

Caring for birds and pond maintenance

As the ground freezes and plants die back, birds will find it harder to get to precious food sources. If you want to make sure they still pay you a visit, keep your feeders well stocked with seeds and fat balls. It’s also a good time to place nets over your pond to keep it clear of leaves over the winter and get rid of overground pond weed.

6. Conclusion

November is a great month for essential winter preparation. Get a head start on the new growing season by putting some additional effort into your garden maintenance now. And don't forget to care for our feathered friends who will struggle to find food during winter.

Read our article "November wildlife gardening jobs" to learn in more detail how to provide vital support for animals during winter.