November’s Gardening Jobs
Sunny Winter Planter
With Halloween passed, Bonfire Night has gone out with a bang and that means the next big event is the C-Word (careful!). You may feel like there isn’t much to do in your garden to get it dolled up for the festive season, and whilst you can make a few additions to your back garden with a holly tree here or some fairy lights there, I think the one thing you can do without a big fuss and for maximum impact is simply to add a planter next to your front door.
Your front door will likely have the most action it gets all year just in December, am I right? Whilst giving the impression you’ve got your s*!t together to everyone delivering to your home or simply walking by, it also gives you a little boost when you’re returning home in the dark after a long day. Either pick up a readymade planter from your local garden centre (there’s no shame in premade, believe me) or selecting your favourite plants for winter interest it’ll be sure to brighten even the dullest of winter days. Check out my blog post on Winter Planters for some ideas if you fancy making your own.
If creating a planter isn’t something you fancy doing this month, then here are some other ideas to be getting on with…
Plant for the bees!
‘Planting for bees in winter?!’ I hear you cry. Why yes, some bees will emerge very early following their hibernation and some even remain active during the winter. The buff-tailed bumblebee has been recorded as being active during the winter by many naturalists over the years. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to have a food source in your garden to help any visitors you may get. Hellebores are a big favourite of mine and come in all different colours so there’ll be one to suit your garden colour scheme. If you get on it quickly, there’s still time to plant a few crocus bulbs in your garden, too. You can pop them in your lawn and let them naturalise or plant them around your perennials to give you a show whilst your other plants are dormant. I particularly like ‘Pickwick’ for a lovely purple and white flash.
Collect your leaves (or ‘leaf’ them alone)
Leaves are a fantastic resource that you can benefit from if you don’t remove them from your garden. You have a couple of options to make the most of them; collect them up into wire bins or plastic bags, pop some holes in the bag and leave them for a couple of years to decompose into beautiful leafmould to use in your garden OR simply sweep the leaves onto your borders around your evergreens and perennials to let them decompose as an easy (and free) mulch.
Prune roses to stop windrock
Now is not the ideal time to prune roses, however, if you have some roses with particularly long stems it can be a good idea to give those a little trim with sharp, clean secateurs. This ensures they’re not caught by the wind which can force the plant to sway around causing damage to the roots.
Plant your tulip bulbs
With the weather cooling off you can start thinking about planting your tulip bulbs. Plant them at least 3 times the depth of the bulb, pointy side up. If planting in pots, plant them around 5cm apart, getting them nice and close for a really good display. I have to admit I’m not really a big tulip fan (my heart lies with daffodils) but I am trying out two varieties this year that caught my eye – ‘Swan Wings’ and ‘Bleu Aimable’ as I’m a sucker for whites and blues in the garden.
Protect your bulbs
Once you’ve got your bulbs planted, you may find you need to cover them with chicken wire or similar. Squirrels and mice both enjoy some of the spring flowering bulbs so you may spot some freshly dug (empty) holes in your pots if don’t. I tend to leave my borders uncovered as I don’t mind sharing a few bulbs with my neighbourhood wildlife.
I hope you’ve been enjoying the monthly gardening tasks blog posts, be sure to give me a shout if you have anything in particular you’d find useful. As always, I hope you have a lovely month and manage to get outside with a coffee and enjoy the fresh air.