Explore things to do in your garden every month
Gardening in November
November days can be chilly, following overnight frosts - but that doesn’t mean you have to lock the back door and stay inside. As long as you wrap up warm, there are plenty of great opportunities for tidying up, planting and generally getting the garden ready for winter. If you need to keep warm, then get on with some gentle digging – but don’t overdo it or you could end up with a bad back!
Things to do this month
Tidy up beds and borders, clearing away dead and dying leaves and faded flower stems.
There’s still time to plant spring-flowering bulbs – but get it done quickly.
Containers planted with evergreens and winter-flowering plants will provide months of colour.
Raise all patio containers on to bricks or pot feet to avoid them sitting in water if you didn’t do it last month.
Keep raking up fallen leaves – especially on the lawn or around small plants. Use them to make leafmould.
Dig over the soil in the vegetable patch if you garden on heavy clay soil.
If you didn’t do it last month, prune rose stems by up to half to help prevent wind rock.
This is the best month to take hardwood cuttings of various deciduous shrubs and soft fruit.
Continue feeding wild birds with high-energy bird foods to help them through the winter.
Before having a bonfire, check for hibernating hedgehogs.
Float a tennis ball in the pond to help prevent the whole surface freezing over.
Carefully melt frozen ponds with a pan of hot water. Don’t smash the ice – this can harm the fish.
Plant garlic cloves, but make sure it is a variety suitable for autumn planting.
Check tree ties and stakes are secure to prevent tree roots moving around too much in strong winds.
Keep water put out for wild birds free from ice, so they can still drink and bathe.
Lift and store dahlia tubers once the first frosts have blackened the foliage.
Insulate containers to protect plant roots from severe cold and frost.
Check compost in containers to ensure it doesn’t dry out. Even after rain, the compost can remain quite dry.
There’s still time to sow a hardy overwintering broad bean for an early crop next year.
Radishes, cress, salad leaves and winter lettuces can be grown in pots on a light windowsill or in a conservatory.
This is a great time to plant hardy trees, shrubs, climbers, roses, perennials and hedges.
Move deciduous small trees, shrubs and climbers that are growing in the wrong place.
Protect tools from excess moisture to prevent them rusting. Treat metal parts with an oily rag.
If you haven’t done it yet, feed the lawn with an autumn lawn food to build up its strength.
There’s still time to start new lawns from seed or turf before winter sets in.
Keep mowing the lawn if temperatures are mild and the grass is still growing.
Sweep away toadstools before their caps open and spread their spores.
Continue to remove apples, pears and plums affected with brown rot disease to prevent it spreading.
Protect overwintering brassicas with netting to keep birds, especially pigeons, off them.
Prevent damage to trees from rabbits, deer and squirrels by using plastic tree protectors.
Weedkillers aren’t very effective in cold weather – hoe weeds to prevent them becoming established.