November Gardening Calendar

Vegetables

• To prevent insects or diseases from over-wintering in the garden, remove and compost all plant debris.
• Fall tilling the vegetable garden exposes many insect pests to winter cold, reducing their numbers in next years garden.
• Any unused, finished compost is best tilled under to improve garden soils.
• Weeks 2-4: Root crops such as carrots, radishes, turnips and Jerusalem artichokes store well outdoors in the ground. Just before the ground freezes, bury these crops under a deep layer of leaves or straw. Harvest as needed during winter by pulling back this protective mulch.

Fruits

• Keep mulches pulled back several inches from the base of fruit trees to prevent bark injury from hungry mice and other rodents.
• Week 1: Fallen, spoiled or mummified fruits should be cleaned up from the garden and destroyed by burying.
• Weeks 3-4: Mulch strawberries for winter with straw. This should be done after several nights near 20 degrees, but before temperatures drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely, but thick enough to hide plants from view.

Ornamentals

• Now is the ideal time to plant trees and shrubs. Before digging the hole, prepare the site by loosening the soil well beyond the drip line of each plant. Plant trees and shrubs at the depth they grew in the nursery and not deeper. Remove all wires, ropes and non-biodegradable materials from roots before back filling. Apply a 2-3 inch mulch layer, but stay several inches away from the trunk. Keep the soil moist, not wet, to the depth of the roots.
• Continue watering evergreens until the ground freezes. Soils must not be dry when winter arrives. Continue watering, especially evergreens if soils are dry.
• Remove the spent flowers and foliage of perennials after they are damaged by frost.

Miscellaneous

• Now is a good time to collect soil samples to test for pH and nutritional levels.
• A final fall application of fertilizer can be applied to bluegrass and fescue lawns now.