Enjoy the crisp fall weather while you are outside for these November chores.
Lawns:
- Continue to mow cool season lawns as needed. A mulching mower is a good way to chop up the leaves and recycle them onto the lawn as long as there are not enough leaves to pile up.
- Another alternative is to use a bagging attachment to chop and collect leaves. Dump them into the compost pile or use them as mulch.
- Nitrogen fertilizer can still be applied if you have not put out the fall application yet.
- It is still fine to aerate with a core aerator, but it’s too late to re-seed.
Ornamentals:
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- This is a good time to move landscape plants that need to be relocated. Replant immediately and plant at the same depth (assuming it was planted correctly to begin with). November is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs. Plant bulbs to a depth equal to 4 times the diameter of the bulb.
- This is a good time to check landscape beds for small winter weeds – chickweed, annual bluegrass and bittercress are among those growing now.
- Now that the heat is running, check house plants frequently for water needs until you figure out what their winter schedule will be. They may need watering more frequently, or less frequently, depending on their location and the type of heating system.
Fruits:
- Do not prune fruit trees until March.
- Pull weeds in the strawberry bed. Mulch with straw when nights are regularly falling below freezing.
Vegetables:
- Remember to use the herbs still in the garden – parsley, rosemary, sage and chives should still be green.
- Don’t pull up the broccoli after harvesting the central head. Plants will continue to form side shoots until temperatures dip into the teens.
- Lettuce and Swiss chard are hardy to about 25 degrees. Light weight floating row cover will often extend that below 20 so you can continue to harvest much of the winter.
Other:
- Disconnect and drain garden hoses and store rain barrels.
- This is a good time to do a soil test. The soil should be easy to dig and results will come back quickly so you can make adjustments needed for spring planting.