Garden jobs for November: your Welsh garden to-do list
Shwmae, everyone!
The clocks have gone back, the leaves are coming down, and the Welsh rain has well and truly settled in. It's tempting to hang up the gloves until spring, but November is one of the most useful months in the garden. The soil is still warm, so whatever you plant now has all winter to settle its roots in. Here's our no-fuss to-do list.
1. Plant hedges, shrubs and trees
Pot-grown plants can go in any time the ground isn't frozen or waterlogged, and autumn planting gives them a head start for spring. It's the perfect time to fill a gap in the border or start a new hedge. Have a look at our hedging plants and shrubs and trees. For winter colour, holly is hard to beat, and the bright red stems of Cornus alba 'Sibirica' really glow once the leaves drop.
2. Plant roses
Roses planted in autumn get their roots down before the busy season. While you're at it, shorten any very long stems on established roses by a third, so the winter wind can't rock them loose. Browse our roses.
3. Tidy up, but not too much
Cut back perennials that have gone soggy, but leave a few seedheads and hollow stems standing. They feed birds and give ladybirds and other insects somewhere to spend the winter. A little untidiness is a gift to wildlife!
4. Make leaf mould
Don't bin those fallen leaves. Pile them into a bin bag with a few holes poked in it, give it a splash of water, and tuck it out of the way. In a year or two you'll have a lovely crumbly mulch for free.
5. Mulch with peat-free goodness
A thick layer of homemade compost or leaf mould over bare soil protects roots, feeds the soil and keeps weeds down. We grow everything in peat-free soil, and it really is the kinder choice for the planet.
6. Protect your pots
Raise containers onto pot feet or bricks so they drain, and move tender plants somewhere sheltered. A sheet of horticultural fleece is handy to have ready for frosty nights.
7. Look after the birds
Keep a dish of fresh water topped up and put out some food. Berry-laden shrubs are a natural larder too.
8. Clean your tools
On a rainy day, give your tools a scrub and a wipe of oil so they're ready to go in spring.
Looking for plants that are happy going in the ground right now? Have a browse of our plants for November, all grown peat-free here in Wenvoe.
Until next time, happy gardening!
Garden City Cymru