Important things to do before the cold weather arrives.
By November, there is not much to do in the garden, the trees are shedding their colorful leaves, the temperature is dropping, and the first frosty nights are coming. However, don’t stop all gardening activities just yet, there are important jobs to do before snow covers your garden!
Make sure to rake all the fallen leaves from your lawn, because the grass can rot and mold underneath. Piles of leaves in a secluded part of the garden are an ideal place for hedgehogs to hibernate, but you can also use them to make compost.
Winterize your garden: turn off the water taps so that the fittings don’t freeze. Empty, clean and cover water collection tanks and barrels. If you have a lawnmower that runs on gasoline, drain the remaining gasoline from it. Thoroughly clean your garden tools and equipment before putting them away.
Before the first frosts arrive, plant the bulbs of spring flowers. On the other hand, non-hardy tubers and rhizomes (such as dahlia tubers) should be dug up and brought indoors for the winter around this time.
Also bring plants indoors that do not tolerate winter frosts. Species that tolerate milder frosts should be wrapped in a protective cover.
This is the time to sow the seeds of plants that germinate in cold weather. For example, you can plant the seeds of Christmas rose or Asian bleeding-heart in pots, both of which can overwinter outdoors.
Dig up the heavy, compacted clay soil; winter frosts break up the rough clods and create crumbly soil for the next season.
Around this time, the compost can still be moved, so it is worth moving it to another pile. Cover the pile with straw or protection foil against the cold.
Fall raspberries, which develop one-year canes, can be cut back completely to ground level. Leave the cut canes in the bed so that beneficial organisms can overwinter under them and protect the soil.
In mild weather, as long as the soil temperature remains above 5 °C, you can still plant bushes and trees. Plants planted in autumn will have an advantage next year compared to those planted in spring.
