GARDEN TIPS FOR NOVEMBER 2009

By Alamance County Cooperative Extension Horticulture Technician Chris Stecker

1)     Continue planting spring-flowering bulbs this month.  Plant tulips, hyacinths, and jonquils 6 inches apart and 8 inches deep (to the bottom of the bulb).  Crocus, anemones, and grape hyacinths  should be planted 2 inches apart and 4-5 inches deep.

2)     Set out forget-me-nots, pansies, snapdragons, violas, sweet William, pinks and other hardy plants for flowering in winter and early spring. 

3)     Put packets of unused seed inside screw-top glass jars.  Add a small tissue packet of powdered milk to the jar to serve as a desiccant, soaking up moisture from the air inside the jar that would otherwise get into the seeds and reduce their longevity.  Store the jar in the refrigerator.

4)     After leaf fall, maintain rose beds by raking up and discarding old mulch and fallen leaves and replace with a fresh layer of mulch.  This will help reduce next year’s disease and insect problems.

5)     Treat perennial weeds such as mock strawberry and wild garlic this month.  Apply a broadleaf herbicide when temperatures are above 50 degrees.

6)     Now is a great time to plant or transplant trees and shrubs.  Dig a planting hole no deeper than the plant’s root ball and about twice as wide.  Remove containerized plants from their pots and loosen the roots with fingers, a screwdriver or other implement.  Balled-and-burlap plants should be set in the hole with burlap intact.  After placing, loosen the burlap and ties and pull back from around the trunk.  Plant containerized or B-and-B plants so the root ball is a couple of inches higher than the surrounding soil.  Backfill, then tamp lightly to settle the soil around the roots.  Water thoroughly and follow with a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch, keeping it away from the trunk.  Wait until spring to fertilize.

7)     Bring in your rain gauge to avoid freeze damage.  Drain and store water hoses to extend their lives.  Clean and service garden tools for winter storage.  Oil blades of shovels and other tools to keep them from rusting.  Drain gas tanks of garden equipment to prevent water buildup.

8)     Purchase amaryllis bulbs and pot them up yourself.  Be sure the pot has at least one or more drainage hole.  Since amaryllis like to be pot bound, choose a pot that is no more than an inch or two wider than the diameter of the bulb.  Clay pots are better than plastic because their added weight will support the amaryllis, which tends to get top heavy when in bloom.  The top third of the bulb should extend above the soil.

9)     Reduce botrytis blight on peonies and powdery mildew on bee balm and phlox by trimming away and disposing of old, dead stems and leaves now.

10)  Grow leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach in a cold frame or beneath a row cover for harvesting all winter long. 

November weather statistics for Burlington and Alamance County:

Average daily high:  62 degrees

Average daily low:  39 degrees

Average rainfall:  2.83 inches