November in the Garden
We’re well and truly into autumn now and the leaves are falling from the trees and every morning when we open the curtains there’s a carpet of leaves on the lawn. It’s lovely to see the autumn leaves but I don’t think the colours are as bright on all trees this year. We have a liquidambar that turns a rich, deep red, and a young acer that’s bright red, but the cherry trees planted in the grass verge at the front of our house are nowhere near as colourful as last autumn. They did suffer in the drought and started to drop their foliage very early, so I’m putting the lack of colour down to that!
Elsewhere in the garden many plants are still flowering and are showing no signs of stopping until we get some harder frosts! This morning (2nd November) I wandered around and we still have a few roses, dahlias, Michaelmas daisies, diascia, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ verbena, fuchsia, hesperantha and abelia, plus others in flower. There’s also a Salvia confertiflora full of flowers. This is a tender salvia in a pot and normally it’s in the greenhouse by November, but it’s still flowering is head off outside against a sunny wall.
Salvia confertiflora
Hesperantha ‘Pink Princess’
Through the autumn Jill and I are out and about giving talks to garden clubs, U3A’s, WI’s and other groups, It’s lovely to go back to clubs we’ve talked at for several years and also to meet new groups for the first time. It’s a part of our job that we really enjoy.
It’s also a time when we’re planning for 2026. Not only talks but shows and events that we’ll be working at over the summer and when they’re finalised, we’ll put them on our website. I’m also planning in the garden. We’ve been in Lincolnshire three years now and I’m going to tweak some of the early planting I did by moving a few plants around and adding more. We’re also staring to prepare the final borders at the front of the house ready for spring planting. They say a garden is never finished and it’s true because there’s always changes to me made to keep the garden evolving and interesting.
Jobs for November
Now that the soil is gradually cooling down, it’s the perfect time to plant tulip bulbs. There’s no rush and some of the top growers are still planting through December but from now on you can get them in the ground, approximately three times their depth.
Roses have bloomed well this summer and some bushes are still trying to produce a last bloom or two but it’s now time to put them to bed for winter. Simply cut all the stems down by around one-third to a half to tidy it up and to stop it rocking around in the winter.
This also gives the plant a well-earned rest and come early spring they can be pruned down even more to promote new growth.
If you want a few more roses for the garden for free, some of the stems you pruned back can be taken as hardwood cuttings. You want a stem approx. 8 inches long, trimmed above a leaf at the top and below a bud at the base. Remove the lower leaves and insert halfway into a pot of compost or directly into the garden and then be patient until spring.
While the lawn is growing, keep trimming on dry days. This helps to build up a strong covering of grass before winter.
So far, we’ve had a fairly mild autumn – we’ve only had a couple of mild frosts – but I’m sure it will turn cold soon. With that in mind make sure the last of the tender plants that are still outside are brought under cover soon. Keep an eye on the forecast and bring them in before it’s too late.
Collect autumn leaves from lawns and paths and compost them but those on beds and borders can be left to rot down naturally to improve the soil.
Still time to plant garlic into the garden. They like a well-drained soil in a sunny position. Plant individual cloves approximately 6inches apart with the top of the clove about an inch or so below soil level.
Finish clearing the veg plot of the last of the summer veg, chop it up and add it to the compost heap to break down. Once the beds are clear, if you have some compost or well-rotted manure spread a couple of inches over the soil to allow the worms to pull it down over winter.
Broad beans can be sown outside in well-drained soil or in small pots in a cold greenhouse to overwinter ready for planting out in early spring.
If you want some flower and veg seeds for spring sowing, Kings Seeds are offering a 10% discount on seeds purchased from their web site www.kingsseeds.com by quoting the code PT2025. It’s valid until the end of 2025. (T&Cs apply)
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Happy gardening