With a touch of snow throughout much of northern NJ during the last week of October, November certainly is starting out on a winter-like note! However, the garden is still alive with plenty of great fall color and some flowering plants still braving the chilly nights.When making your daily or weekly gardening notes, it is important to include weather conditions and flowering times.A better understanding of plants and weather as well as current trends of change can only enhance your gardening abilities!
Things To Do For November:
- For those growing carrots, beets, turnips or Jerusalem artichokes and wishing to extend the harvest into winter, apply a heavy mulch of straw to the crops to prevent the soil from freezing deep and ruining the crop.Parsley will continue to grow well into December, especially if covered by a basket on particularly cold nights.
- Fertilize the lawn – after a soil test.November is the ideal time to develop a proper root system to get your lawn through next summer’s droughts and the soil test will tell you what formulation of fertilizer is best.
- Remove heavy accumulations of leaves from lawn areas.Minor amounts can be shredded and allowed to filter through the grass to the ground.These leaf fragments have been found to be a good source of organic matter and minor nutrients for lawns.
Now that we have had a good rainfall throughout New Jersey, don’t forget to bring in all the hoses and to drain outdoor pipes and irrigations systems.
- For Roses, Peonies, Lilacs, Dogwoods and other plants that may have had black spot, powdery mildew, or other foliar diseases, make certain that all the leaves, which could overwinter disease organisms, are removed from the base of the plants.
- Shred and mulch your beds with newly fallen leaves.Why send your leaves to the dump?They can be shredded and serve as a great mulch for annuals perennial and shrub beds.
- Cut back Asters as soon as they finish flowering to prevent self-sowing.As the frosts become more severe, more perennials will require cutting to the ground to keep the border neat and tidy.
- Finish planting bulbs.Remember, the need to be planted to a depth of 3x the diameter of the bulb.It always takes longer than we think, and some garden centers may offer sales towards the end of the month.
- Finish emptying clay containers that can crack over the winter and store in a protected area or upside down under a tarp if left out doors.
- At the end of the month, pot up Paperwhite Daffodils and Amaryllis for Holiday displays.
- Save some interesting seed capsules from perennials (such as Blackberry Lily) and combine them with Holly or Beautyberry for a wonderful Thanksgiving centerpiece.
If there are any additional questions, please feel free to ask by submitting them to Rutgers Gardens (
rugardens@aesop.rutgers.edu). Happy reading and pruning!
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