Don’t Forget to Complete These 13 November Gardening Tasks This Winter
Winter is on its way to the Carolinas — is your lawn and garden ready? While you may think your gardening tasks are done for the year, we’re sorry to inform you they’re not, especially if you want a beautiful spring garden next year! Winter garden care is crucial to the health of your plants, fruits and vegetables. Which is why we wanted to make sure your November gardening to-do list covers all of the care your garden will need this season. Below, we have the 13 specific tasks you’ll need to complete in your garden this November. It’s going to take some hard work, but come springtime, you’ll be thankful you put in the extra effort!
November Gardening Checklist
In your garden, you’ll need to:
1. Prune Dead or Fallen Leaves
Tend to your plants and bushes and remove any fallen or dead leaves. You can use these for compost along with other twigs, cuttings and weeds from your lawn and garden. If you have rose bushes, pay special attention to the leaves at the base that are showing signs of blackspot or rust. Remove them now to reduce the chance of reinfection next year.
2. Start Forcing Bulbs
Spring bulbs can be forced into flowering in the winter. While not all bulbs require a chilling period, many need cold temperatures to stimulate growth and flower production. Forcing flowering bulbs requires a bit of work, but it’s relatively easy. All you really need is a pot, some soil, water, straw and patience! Flowers like paperwhites, hyacinth, amaryllis and tulips are ideal flowering plants to choose. Read more about forcing bulbs here. Pro Tip: Use colored markers to not only identify where you plant spring bulbs, but also their specific colors. Golf tees will work!
3. Continue Weeding
As plants begin to die, it becomes much easier to spot annual green weeds. Continue removing weeds from your garden throughout winter. This will help to reduce the chance of weeds in the spring and make the weeds that do emerge more manageable.
4. Keep Watering
Until the ground freezes, continue watering your plants, trees and shrubs.
5. Plant or Relocate Shrubs
Now is the perfect time to plant or relocate trees and shrubs. During the summer and fall, it can be too hot out to tackle this task. November is just cold enough to make planting and relocation bearable! Be sure to water the trees or shrubs after planting as well.
6. Divide Perennials
Divide your favorite perennials for a fuller winter garden. Plants like mums, asters, black-eyed Susans and beard tongues are ideal. To divide your perennials, use a shovel or trowel to lift a clump of each plant from the ground. Then, divide the plant into smaller clumps and replant each clump at the same depth as the original plant.
7. Save Seeds
Why waste money on seeds in the spring when you could collect and save seeds from your favorite plants now? Grab a glass jar to hold seeds from your favorite plant, fruit or vegetable and store it in a dry, cool place. Pro Tip: Speaking of saving, go ahead and cut off a few stems from your holly bushes to store for holiday decorations before birds start eating the berries.
8. Insulate Container Gardens
Remember last month when you assembled your fall container garden? Now is the time to protect those plants you worked so hard for! Insulate your container gardens with bubble wrap or hessian to protect them from potential frosts. Hold your insulation in place with garden twine.
9. Grow Cover Crops
Ryegrass and crimson clover are ideal cover crops to protect your garden from weeds and erosion, as well as condition the soil once they die back in winter. Cover crops also attract beneficial insects, which we all know do wonders for your garden — especially when it comes to pest control.
10. Protect Perennials
Lastly, protect your perennials from freezing winter weather by covering them with straw.
November Lawn Checklist
Once your garden is taken care of, check these three lawn care items off your list:
1. Rake Leaves
Rake leaves, twigs, branches and more out of your lawn and set them aside for compost.
2. Apply a Winterizer
In November, you’ll want to apply a winterizer to prepare your lawn for winter weather and spring growth. A winterizer will help your lawn store the nutrients it needs to grow in the spring.
3. Control Poa Annua
Poa Annua is an annual weedy grass that is known to overtake weaker lawns. So, to protect the hard-earned integrity of your lawn, you need to overseed and protect against Poa Annua. Overseeding should occur in early autumn, while Poa Annua control should begin in November and continue into the winter months. This will be especially helpful if your lawn was aerated in September and October!
Need Professional Care? We Can Help!
If November gardening and lawn maintenance are too much to handle on top of holiday preparation, family trips and guest visits, we get it. Let our team of experts take care of it for you! It’s easy to forget that your lawn and garden need specific care throughout every season. Skipping one season can cause detrimental effects to the growth and health of your plants and lawn for the seasons to come. At Killingsworth, we offer a year-long lawn care package that covers every season of the year and caters to the specific needs of your lawn. We promise to treat your home, lawn and garden like its our own, giving you more time to enjoy this season with your family.
If you need help from our lawn care experts, schedule a service with us today!
