November garden advice and maintenance

General gardening

• Clear any fallen leaves from your lawn, pond and beds
• Raise containers onto pot feet to prevent water logging
• Plant tulip bulbs for a Spring display next year
• Prune roses to prevent wind-rock
• Plant out winter bedding
• Stop winter moth damage to fruit trees by using grease bands around the trunks
• Encourage birds in to your garden by putting out bird food
• Continue to tidy beds and borders, then mulch with compost, well-rotted manure or bark and apply a slow release fertiliser such as bone meal.
• Provide Autumn and Winter interest by leaving attractive stems or seed heads for wildlife. Cut back old, unsightly perennials to ground level though
• Keep Autumn flowering plants looking their best by removing dead heads and ensuring they’re not being covered with fallen leaves.

In the greenhouse

• Protect plants in your greenhouse from cold winter nights with a heater
• Water in the morning only, so that the foliage does not remain wet at night and try to avoid leaf splash.
• Sow winter Lettuce in the greenhouse border soil.
• Ventilate the greenhouse with care in order to keep up air movement and alleviate dampness without letting temperatures fall too low.
• Insulate the greenhouse from frost – bubble wrap works well or purchase a bubble insulation pack.

Wildlife gardening

• Replenish birdfeeders, or hang one if you have not done so in previous seasons. All feeds, including peanuts, are safe, as the breeding season is now over
• Clean out nesting boxes so that birds can shelter inside them during the winter
• Leave mature ivy uncut if possible, as it is an excellent late source of nectar for insects
• Make a leaf pile for hibernating mammals and ground-feeding birds overwintering in the UK