November Gardening Tips: What To Do In The Garden In November

The days are a little bit cooler and winter is fast approaching. November is a great month to prepare your plants for frosty winter conditions and wrap up some of the gardening tasks that you might have already started back in October.

These tips for gardening in November that will set up your garden for success next season. Read on to learn all about these fall garden tasks and how to best implement them in your yard.

November Pruning: The Bare Minimum

One of the most important November gardening tips is to minimize pruning of shrubs and trees. You can cut back herbaceous perennials, but try not to trim woody plants.

“It is a good idea to leave as much winter cover as possible, which provides insulation and a microclimate to protect plants from the coldest weather, seedheads for birds, and is important cover for insects.”
Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom, by Monty Don

Dividing Perennials in November

Perennial plants can be cut down to just above soil level so that they will grow back in spring without a soggy mess of last years leaves. You can do this by starting from the middle of the patch and moving outwards. Annual plants can be removed as they will die off anyway.

Another great November gardening tip is to take the time to divide your perennials. Hostas, peonies, and other ornamental plants can be dug up and split to multiply your greenery!

Lift and Store Tender Flower Bulbs

You will need to lift and store tender flowers like begonias, dahlia, and gladiolus. And don’t forget to remove dead foilage while you are at it! Trim off most of the foliage and compost it. Then carefully dig up the tuber roots and let them dry in the sun. Store them in a cool (but not frozen) spot where they can go dormant for winter. Check them every few weeks and remove any that are showing signs of rot.

Plant Garlic

November is the last chance to plant fall garlic in areas where the ground freezes for winter. If you didn’t get around to it in September or October, plant some cloves of garlic now to enjoy a yummy harvest as next summer rolls around.

Mulching for Winter Protection

Fill in exposed and empty patches of soil with compost, mulch, or leaf mold. Shredded leaves work very well around the base of tender plants that need a little extra protection in the winter. Try not to apply the thick winter protective mulch until winter is here to stay. Once the ground freezes, you can mulch all your plants and let them stay that way until the spring thaw occurs.

November Gardening Tips

Try some of these November gardening tips in your yard:

Plant trees, shrubs, perennials before the ground freezes
Make leaf mold compost
Pull out any remaining weeds from garden beds
Remove remains of dead annual plants and add to compost
Select some plants to leave for overwintering beneficial creatures
Store potting soil for wintertime
Find and prep spring seed starting supplies
Remove rotten fruit from branches and ground below fruit trees
Turn the compost if not frozen. can cover to keep heat in
Clean gardening tools and sharpen for early spring
Clean empty planter pots
Mulch flower beds with compost.
Shred leaves with the lawnmower or a blower vac
Plant any last spring bulbs
Harvest frost-sweetened kale
Cut back herbaceous perennials. leave some seed heads standing
Pruning should be limited to dead/damaged/diseased/dying branches.
Pick fall cranberries
Leave a few carrots, potatoes, and other veggies in the ground for Thanksgiving dinner
Winter spinach should start to be ready. You’ll be able to have spinach salad with Thanksgiving dinner
Sharpen and oil garden tools (and add a few to your holiday wish list!).