What to do in the garden in November:

What to do in the garden in November:

What to do in the garden in November:

Early winter is a time for planning, and for making sure your garden is tucked up snugly for its winter rest. Here are your jobs to get on with this month:

General tasks:

  • Clean nest boxes removing old nesting material which can harbour parasites. Give bird baths and feeders a good scrub too.
  • Check bonfires for hibernating hedgehogs, moving established heaps to a new site before setting light to them.


Ornamental garden:

  • Protect delicate plants likely to suffer in frosty weather, like cistus and fuchsia, tucking bracken or straw around their bases.
  • Protect fastigiate (columnar) conifers from snow damage by loosely wrapping them with wire so branches aren't forced out of shape.
  • Plant tulips in generous drifts, each bulb about 7.5cm apart and 15cm deep, adding a handful of coarse grit to planting holes to help drainage


Kitchen garden:

  • Plant gooseberry bushes, available now from our garden centre - you can fit them into even the smallest gardens trimmed into cordons and trained against a fence.
  • Plant garlic spacing cloves about 15cm apart and sinking them into the ground so the tips are just below the surface.
  • Net Brussels sprouts and cabbages to keep off hungry pigeons, though check regularly to make sure birds aren't getting trapped.