The name of the game as we move into the colder months of the year is simple really: keep things ticking over.
If you take the decision to completely ‘shut down’ your gardening efforts for the winter then you’re not only doing your garden a disservice, your own health and well being will suffer too! We all know how much pleasure it gives us to work on our gardens, so it would be silly to stop just for the sake of a few drops of rain.
Besides, there’s still plenty that can be done to make your job easier in time for when spring time rolls around. Ask yourself, ‘what would I rather be faced with next March and April, an untouched, and over grown muddy mess, or a work in progress that I’ve already got a head start on?’ I certainly know which I’d be aiming for.
In terms of real jobs that you can be getting on with this November, here are a few ideas:
- Plant daffodil bulbs. These are an archetype of the great British spring time, and when their magnificent display emerges next year, it will not only look great, but will spur you on to create more great things in the garden
- Gather or vac up any fallen leaves from both your lawn, and around vulnerable flowers such as rose bushes, where the risk of infection from black spot is increased in the presence of old leaves
- Get started planting a variety of plants from tulip bulbs, pansies, primulas, and grasses. As long as you protect them from the winter frosts, they will be in full display by spring
- If you’ve got holly in your garden, make a few trimmings of holly stems including berries in time Christmas. Put them in a safe place in a bucket of water, away from the mouths of hungry birds
- Aerate your lawn (if you haven’t already) using an aerator or fork
- Remember to set your mower to a higher cut height to avoid damaging the frail winter grass
- It’s also a good time to tidy up the edges of your lawn whilst your flower beds are less crowded. You’ll have more space to move around and make them look as neat as possible.
