Gardening Month by Month - November

NOVEMBER GARDENING

To be honest, November should be spent in the garden in much the same way as October.

Making sure that the garden is tidy, the plants are protected and the tools are stored securely away gives you a sense of doing something constructive as well as keeping everything in good order.

It's certainly a month where there's less to do in the garden, as with all the winter months but it's also a time where other activities can be done to produce an even better garden next year.

Your focus in the plants world should be on house plants, keeping them well and providing fertiliser on the ones that require it.

Christmas flowering bulbs should have been planted by now and these will need checking regularly for water and to ensure the growth is right to give you a perfect Christmas bloom.

Use the time in the garden to do some general work. Is there a new wall you want anywhere, do you want to build a new cold frame or does the greenhouse need a good clean out. Get the shed in order as well by making sure everything is in its rightful place.

If you haven't got one already, why not buy or even better, make, a bird feeder. The birds will need some nutrition now and you can help them out as well as getting the pleasure from seeing them in the garden over the next few months when things aren't as active in the garden.

One thing to remember now is that if the lawn is frozen, keep off it!

Freezing grass breaks easily due to the amounts of water stored in the stems and breaking it won't help your lawn any and may even leave dead patches next year.