November 2020 Gardening Advice

There is still time to plant garlic.

submitted by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill and Manchester Community & School Gardens

November is definitely a time for crazy weather in Michigan, and yesterday was no exception! This week will prove that we never can really know what to expect in the way of weather in Southeast Michigan. We will go from snow squalls yesterday and lows overnight last night in the 20s to highs in the upper 60s by the end of the week. Don’t get used to those temps, though. It’s going to feel a lot more like November by the middle of next week. And although there is no snow in the forecast for the next two weeks, it won’t be long before we see that white stuff flying around here for real, and sticking around – apparently, the weather forecasters are saying we should expect a much snowier winter than last year, due to the effects of La Niña. They are not calling for significantly colder temperatures this year – yay! – but definitely more precipitation. Having said that, the heavier precipitation isn’t expected to show up for a little while yet. The remainder of the fall is still expected to be drier than normal. So be prepared to keep watering your perennials, trees, and shrubs for a while longer.

Take advantage of the lovely weather that is coming up later this week, and over the weekend – we won’t see temps like this again for some time! I’ll be planting my garlic and flower bulbs this weekend – it’s the perfect time to plant both. Usually, I’m doing this in freezing cold weather, so I’m looking forward to a little nicer conditions this year.

Vegetable Garden –

• It’s time to clean out the garden, sad as that may be. Kale, cabbage, and other brassicas can be left in the garden for a little bit yet – they can take a little frost and still produce. Everything else is pretty much done after the freezing temperatures we had for a couple of nights. If you had issues with diseases in any of your plants this year, bag up and throw out those plants – cold-weather composting doesn’t generally produce enough heat to kill off any diseases, and you don’t want to bring those diseases back into the garden with your compost next spring – but definitely compost everything else.
• Pull weeds to reduce their numbers in the garden next spring. Doing a light tilling to expose weed seeds and insects to hungry birds will also cut down on them (the weeds and insects, not the birds!) in the spring.
• Consider sowing a cover crop, such as annual ryegrass, to help prevent erosion and to add organic matter and nutrients back into the soil in the spring. Alternatively, add compost to the garden to help improve the soil and add nutrients.
• Plant spinach now for an early crop in the spring.
• Give any perennial plants that you are leaving in your garden over the winter, such as thyme and sage, a good layer of mulch.
• Consider doing a soil test now so that you are ready to make any necessary adjustments to the soil in early spring.
• Plant garlic! We still have some at the store, so come get yours this week and plant it while the weather cooperates. If you’ve never grown garlic, you should! It’s easy, and you get so much for the little effort it takes. Every clove you plant now turns into a whole bulb by next summer. And the flavor is so much better than the stuff you get in the stores.

Flower Beds –

• Plant Spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils, tulips, crocus, alliums, hyacinths, and more now for a beautiful show next spring! If you’re concerned about squirrels, deer, and rabbits eating your tulips, there are some things you can do to deter them. Squirrels like to dig up and eat freshly planted bulbs. You can confound their ability to find them by mixing your bulbs up with some baby powder in a paper bag (think “Shake-n-Bake”) before planting. The scent of the baby powder throws them off. Deer and rabbits like to eat the plants once they come up. We have a great product – Scram – to keep them away. Sprinkle some of that around your plants as they are emerging in the spring, and the deer and rabbits will find something else to eat.
• Annuals that were still hanging on are probably finished for the season after the low overnight temps recently, so pull them out and compost them. Pull weeds out of your beds to give you a head-start on spring.
• You can cut back perennials and ornamental grasses once they have gone dormant, or leave them until spring. I prefer to leave mine up, partly because standing grasses and flowers can catch drifting snow and leaves and hold them in place. I also like the look of the plants in the snow – it breaks up the vast expanses of white. Additionally, the plants can provide a place for overwintering beneficial insects and birds. However, if you had any diseases in your garden this year, cut back the foliage or pull the plants now and discard them to reduce disease risk in spring.
• Around the end of the month, once the soil is pretty well frozen, add mulch to your flower beds. A layer of about 3 or 4 inches of mulch will help protect roots from temperature fluctuations throughout the winter.
• Keep watering your plants, whenever we are not getting at least an inch of rain per week, until the ground freezes. This will help them to be in the best shape possible going into winter.

Trees –

• As I mentioned above, this fall is much drier than normal. On top of the terribly dry summer we had, that’s hard on trees and shrubs, and winter won’t be any easier. So keep watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes.
• Just like in your flower gardens, put down a good layer of mulch around your trees and shrubs to help them get through winter.
• Protect evergreen shrubs and small evergreen trees from the harsh winter winds that fry them out with a barrier built with burlap or other heavy-duty fabric.

Lawn and Leaves –

• We should pretty much be finished with mowing now, since we did get some pretty hard frosts recently. But, if you are doing any more mowing, be sure to lower the cutting height so that your grass isn’t too tall going into winter.
• Mow up your leaves and mulch them into your lawn, or rake them into your flower beds – they make a great natural mulch.

Tools –

• Clean, dry, sharpen, and lubricate your garden tools, including shovels, before you put them away so they’ll be ready for all the hard work you expect them to perform in the spring.
• When you are done watering your trees, shrubs, and flower beds for the season, empty your hoses, roll them up, and tie them before hanging them up for the winter. I have found that using a round trash can or rain barrel to wind the hose around makes it much easier to get them rolled up. Connect the ends of each hose to keep spiders and other creatures from using them as nesting places. If you put all of your sprinkler heads and wands all in one place, you’ll have an easier time finding them all in the spring. If you have rain barrels, empty them and put them away when we start getting consistent freezing temps, too.

Birds –

• You can tell that winter is on its way by the “changing of the guard” around your bird feeders at this time of year. Gone are the red winged blackbirds, orioles, and hummingbirds, and in their place are dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows. Many of our summer favorites will stick around all winter, including blue jays, bluebirds, cardinals, robins, and finches. So, if you haven’t been feeding the birds all summer, do start feeding them now. As it gets cold, the main source of food for birds – insects – are no longer available, so they need easy sources of protein to help them get through the cold days and nights.
• Leave your birdbaths out as long as possible to provide your birds with a source of fresh water. You can help birds get through winter better by putting a de-icer into your birdbath, or buying a heated birdbath to keep the water from freezing when the temperatures do start falling.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.