As Autumn draws to a close and the garden starts to fade, November is a great time to prepare the garden for the oncoming Winter with planting, pruning and tidying. Here's my top 5 November gardening jobs.
Plant Tulip bulbs
Plant at least two times the depth of the bulbs, with a layer of horticultural grit to help with drainage. Planting tulips later helps avoid tulip fire.
2. Plant out bare roots
Now is the time to buy and plant out bare root hedging, trees and shrubs. It is much cheaper to buy bare roots than containerised plants but make sure that you plant them straight away.
3. Prune Apple & Pear trees
Remove the 3D's (dead, diseased, decaying) and any crossing branches first. Shorten this year's growth by 1/3 and cut back side shoots to 5/6 buds.
4. Prune fruit bushes
Prune fruit bushes including blueberries (shown above) now they are dormant. Remove 1/4 of old wood cutting stems down to the base or to a young shoot further down.
5. Collect fallen leaves
Collect leaves off patios and paths to stop them getting slippery and make leaf mould but leave the leaves on the flower beds as they will break down and condition the soil.
And remember when you are lighting your bonfires this weekend, to check first for hedgehogs.
Happy Bonfire Night!