11/01/2026
From Mark and Ben Cullen’s newsletter. (Received by email each month)
Things to do in the garden in November.
Image: yours truly
Harvest. Many veggies taste best after some frost. Leeks, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and the like are ready for harvest.
Carrots are sweetest now: dig what is left in your garden and store them in buckets of dry sand in your garage.
Winterize your roses. Hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras and miniatures all need to be mounded up with fresh triple mix or garden soil about 60 to 80 cm high. A rose collar helps to mound the soil high enough to do the job very well.
Spiral wrap around fruit tree trunks. Prevent rodent damage and sun scald. Non- fruiting fruit trees like purple leafed plum, crabapples and flowering cherry fall into this category too.
Wrap burlap around cedars, yews, boxwood and all broadleaf evergreens. Two layers is best: one to buffer wind and the other to insulate from the drying and burning effects of the sun, reflecting off snow.
Empty your compost. Spread the finished 'good' stuff on your garden. No need to turn it under, though you can if you want to. Earthworms will do the job come spring.
Fill your compost. (Does this sound like the job that never ends? Empty, fill, empty, fill..) set your lawn mower at its highest setting and run it over fallen leaves to cut them into smaller pieces. Dump them and spent annuals and tomato plants in the compost bin.
Water. You will soon shut off the outdoor faucets to prevent freezing, but before you do, be sure that established plants in your yard are well watered. Even if you have had reasonable amounts of rain this fall. The evergreens and shrubs under the eve and soffit of your home are protected from most rain. Be sure to soak all permanent plants deeply before the freeze up. Truth is, being frozen in ice is better insulation than dry soil.
Rake leaves onto your garden. Off your lawn, on to your garden. Or into your compost pile. Either way, they will rot down over the winter and provide needed nourishment to all plants that grow. Do not put them to the curb.
Apply Wilt-pruf to broadleaved evergreens like rhododendrons, boxwood, holly and the like to prevent winter desiccation (apply when temperatures are above freezing).
Plant garlic cloves right away (we planted ours 2 weeks ago) about 4 cm deep and 10 cm apart. Use loose, open, sandy soil as they like water to drain away from them. Your garlic crop will be ready to harvest next August.
After the first serious frost, dig up your dahlias and lay the 'bulbs' (tubers) in the sun to dry for a day or two. Store in a large, craft paper leaf bag with dry peat moss or shredded newspaper in a cool but DRY place. Plan to plant them up in April for a repeat performance next season.
Do not cut back fall flowering ornamental grasses, coneflower, rudbeckia and all the autumn flowering plants that produce a seed head. The birds will forage the seeds well past the first snow fall.
And look for the 2027 edition of Harrowsmith's Almanac. Amazingly packed with essential information.
