November 2024
New Video - Propagating Succulents and Cactus
October was another exceptionally warm and dry month for us here in the Ohio River Valley. Our total rainfall for the month was only 0.35 inches, making it the second driest October in the last 100 years. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but I hope you are able to keep up with watering your plants during this drought. It is especially important for your spring blooming shrubs, like azaleas. If they don’t have enough moisture going into the winter, the flower buds will fall off the plant next spring and they won’t put on much of a show. November has mercifully started with a bit more in the way of moisture. We had more rain on November 6th than we did for the entire month of October.
In addition to removing spent annuals and digging non-hardy bulbs for storage, I’ve been busy learning how to create gardening videos. I’m not a techie by any means, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I learn how to use the technology. My intention is to bring you helpful information to make your gardening spaces the best they can be. I plan to place them on my website under the “How To Videos” option in the main menu. The first video (above) details how to save money on next year’s garden by propagating succulents and cacti. I’ll try to keep them all under five minutes, so you get the information you need quickly. If you’re a visual learner like me, I hope you will find them helpful and informative.
In the meantime, please find below a list of items for you to work on in November.
November Garden Tasks
November is the best month for planting tulip bulbs, before the ground begins to freeze. I’ve recently added a new video to the “How To Videos” page of the website, detailing how to plant your bulbs for a beautiful spring display.
November is also the time to dig, divide, and store your tender bulbs for the winter. These include cannas, dahlias, and caladiums. I’ve also created a new video explaining how you should store these tropicals to ensure they’re ready to plant next spring.
Now is also your last chance to move any perennials which may have outgrown their current space. I recommend watering the plant and removing most of the foliage before you make the move. If the plant is really large, you can also use your shovel to divide the plant, so you increase your stock. Place the plants in freshly dug holes so the roots are at the same level as their previous home.
Clean your garden tools for the season, so they are ready for spring. Clean, sharpen, and oil all the blades and moving parts of your shears and pruners.
Clean and bring inside any of your frost sensitive terra cotta pots. I lost several nice Tuscan pots last year when I forgot to do this. After a rain followed by a hard freeze, the pots froze to the ground and the bottom of the pots completely shattered.
Start feeding the birds. By November, birds have eaten most of the naturally available seeds and berries, so they will appreciate a source of food to help sustain them over the next four to five months. Watching songbirds like cardinals from your kitchen table is one of the pleasures of winter.
If you have the space in your garden, I recommend you rake your leaves together, mow them into smaller pieces, and place them in a mound to create leaf mold over the winter. They make a great home for overwintering beneficial insects and will make a wonderful soil enhancer for your garden next spring.
