We’ve had a mild autumn in the UK so far, with a few days of Indian Summer – when it wasn’t raining or sending us mini typhoons that is! But November is likely to present us with more ‘autumnal weather’ – mists, a sudden drop in temperature, and snow in some parts of Britain. A shock for us, perhaps but more so for the plants in our gardens, so it is a tine to make haste for certain tasks.
The mild weather has kept flowers blooming in the borders and allowed us to enjoy not only luscious dahlias but plenty of other late summer / autumn flowerers such as Helianthus and Rudbeckia. And yet, last week found me busy splitting herbaceous, very aware that this mild weather isn’t going last – so we do need to get busy with ‘proper’ autumn gardening tasks.
3 Gardening Tasks for November
Many herbaceous perennials have been flowering continuously for months. Now is a good time to cut back those that are looking scruffy, leaving those which still have seedheads and flowers. But you can apply mulch around the roots of all of them. This will have the double benefit of feeding the soil (and therefore the plant) and of offering protection from winter frosts.
Autumn is a good time to be planting trees, hedges and shrubs, whilst the soil is still warm from summer. You can plant container grown plants or look for bare rooted specimens. These latter are available once the plants have lost their leaves and gone dormant, which will be at the end of this month or possibly into December. Buying bar root plants used to be the main way in which we bought and planted our garden and it’s good to see a wider variety becoming available. Its good for our pockets and our planet! Check out our tips for bare rooted plants.
Leaf fall and leaf compost –
many people find this the downside of autumn – leaves all over driveways, paths, lawns and flower borders. Here are three tips for you – and then check out our leaf blog for money saving tips on what to do with all those leaves –
- As the leaves are likely to be wet and slippery, it’s a good idea to sweep them off drives and paths. A stiff brush works well on most surfaces (leaf blowers don’t always work so well when the leaves are sopping wet)
- If your lawn is covered with leaves why not try Nathan’s trick of mowing the lawn on a high cut (probably the last mow of the year) which will gather up the leaves at the same time? This mix of ‘green & brown’ waste can go straight into your compost bin.
- Leaves on the shrub and borders can be pretty much be left in situ. Obviously remove any diseased leaves (put these in the council green waste bin). But deciduous leaves are giving the soil and plants a free mulch and you haven’t had to put it there…
Gardening Tasks for November – extra
Typically, as a cold snap was on the cards, my husband lined the greenhouse and potting shed windows with horticultural fleece (re-using it from previous years) and then we’ve had mild weather … but at least the job is done! There’s cardboard ready in the potting shed for extra protection for the pots standing on the floor, such as my citrus trees. We’ve been slower adding insulation to the cold frames as not all of the plants in those will need extra protection. For tips on insulating your greenhouse or polytunnel ready for winter, check out this greenhouse blog.
Gardening Workshops in Marie’s Garden
Small group workshops so you get plenty of attention. There are a range of topics, some seasonal, but for example: –
- Free Plants – How & When to Divide Herbaceous Perennials
- Seed Saving 101: Collecting & Storing Seeds from Your Garden
- How to Prune – tips and practical teaching
See Plews Gardening Workshops for more details or head to Eventbrite to book your place
With a mix of practical, hands on demonstration and guided practice, you’ll go home with more gardening knowledge and something to grow on in your own garden.
Prices from £25 – £53 depending on length & materials provided, includes tea / coffee on arrival & Eventbrite booking fee. There are also Earlybird offers
Location is Biggin Hill / Westerham (just inside M25). NB there are steps as the garden is on a hill
Gardens to visit in November
UK National Tree Week is November 22 – 30 this year, so it seems right to suggest tree collections for you to visit this month; so you can gather some inspiration for planting trees in your own garden.
Pineta are collections of pine, or conifer trees; Arboreta hold mixed evergreen and deciduous tree collections. For example, Bedgebury is one of our national pinetums; whilst Winkworth is an arboretum.
And there are still beautiful autumn gardens open, including some Yellow Book scheme gardens. I love seeking out those with prairie style planting at this time of year. A low autumn sun shining through massed seed heads of different shapes and heights is a work of art.
There are plenty of Gardening Visits to look at in Plews Potting Shed blog if you need ideas of where to go – arranged geographically for your convenience 😉
We all like having a nosey around someone else’s garden… so, if you can’t make it to the Workshops, you can still follow Marie’s garden and its renovation on Instagram or Facebook It’ll be at least a year before she can open her garden but you can watch the progress until then!
See our @plewsgd Instagram and Facebook page for tips, pics, gardening inspo.
Garden Talks
Are you the person who organises talks for your local gardening club, WI, U3A, history society, or general club?
Have a look at the Talks page to see if Marie’s wide ranging garden related topics might interest you and your members. Recent ones given include Planting for Shady Front Gardens Trees for Small Gardens, and Record keeping – how necessary is it for most gardeners?
Attending one of Marie’s gardening talks is more than just sitting in a chair and being spoken to. It’s a learning experience and an inspirational journey. She brings her vast knowledge to life with captivating stories, simple explanations and demonstrations.
Would you like more gardening tips, garden design ideas and seasonal gardens to visit?
Why not check out our gardening blog articles on a range of topics in Plews Potting Shed ?
Marie’s writing has achieved Plews Potting Shed’s standing as it’s in the Top Ten Garden Design blogs and Top Thirty Gardening blogs by Feedspot and she has previously been shortlisted in the prestigious Garden Media Guild Awards.
Recent blogs include Ruby Wedding Anniversary Plants and Flowers (guess who’s had their 40th anniversary!) Bought More Plants than You Meant? Help is Here! (Tips for when you overindulge at the garden centre) Growing Spider Plants A wide range of topics so there’s sure to be one that appeals to you!
“interesting even if you have no intention of picking up a spade”
Thanks Tim, who is a regular reader if a reluctant gardener!
NB there is still a delay with the newsletter as its taking longer to implement the new system as we still have issues with the updated website. But we’ll get there! We’ll be sending out another ‘test run’ to a few of you
It comes with the planting list and link to the blog
Gardening printables for you
A range of free downloadable and printable PDFs on seasonal gardening, garden history snippets, vegetable gardening, garden design, themed planting lists for inspiration, garden planning, record keeping for you and your garden. For example, Plants for Chalk Soil comes complete with a planting list and link to the blog for extra info.
Plews Gardening eBooks for You
Available to purchase from Plews (via PayPal); safe download directly from the website and also from Amazon and Kindle library
It’s the time of year when many gardeners think about composting -(must be all those fallen leaves!) Why not treat yourself to Marie’s “Compost and Composting” eBook?
This composting book is for those gardeners who: –
- have tried to compost in the past to feel re-assured that they can still succeed
- would like to have a go at composting in their garden but are not sure where to start
“Witty, entertaining and informative”
Amazon review
Gardening Gift Vouchers
Dare we mention Christmas? Gardening Gift Vouchers are available to purchase for all our services, including Gardening Lessons and Gardening Workshops. Whether you want to use these for Christmas presents for gardeners or as a hint to others for yourself they’re a great choice.
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