Helpful Garden Tips for November and December

Autumn is in full gear now. This is a great time to plant almost any tree, shrub, perennial, ground cover, wildflower seeds and the last of spring-flowering bulbs. Days are shorter and storms may affect our ability to work outdoors, but November is still a great month for outdoor work.

Planting

In the cool autumn weather, transplanted plants will experience less shock. If we haven't received enough rain to saturate the soil, fill the planting hole with water and let it drain, just as you would other times of the year. Keep new transplants well-watered for at least six weeks.

Even your plants that will eventually be low-water-use should be well watered and fussed over for this initial period. Check with your probe tool to make sure the soil is moist down at the root zone or, if you are like me, you will just poke around with your bare hand.

For a gardener, the feel of soil is satisfying and informative. Try not to disturb the roots too much, which also disturbs tiny trails and tunnels of beneficial organisms.

This is an especially good month to plant those California and Mediterranean woody shrubs that don't thrive with too much summer water. This includes manzanita, ceanothus, toyon, lavender, coffeeberry, buckthorn, bush lupin, flannel bush and rosemary.

When planting trees, remove the nursery stake that comes with the plant and is wrapped closely to the trunk. If your new tree needs staking for a season or two, use bamboo or lodgepoles and proper tree ties and place the stake towards the outside of the root ball. The trunk should be able to move a little to strengthen.

November is the month to plant spring bulbs like daffodils and narcissus in a site where they will get a full day of sunshine at least through early summer. Plant the bulb three times deeper than its height. Usually, the pointed end of the bulb is placed up when planting.

We can still plant winter vegetables like greens, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, celery, cilantro and lettuce. Cold frames make great homes for late-started vegetables, but if you don't have any built yet, use straw to protect young plants from early frost. Mature cold season vegetables don't mind frost, in fact many of them taste best after a good cold night or two.

Maintaining

After the leaves fall, begin pruning deciduous shrubs and trees, not only to shape them, but to prevent storm damage. Our Master Gardener website (https://ucanr.edu/sites/UC_Master_Gardeners) has more complete instructions, illustrations, and a short video on pruning trees the correct way for safety, tree health and good appearance. Look under "local gardening information."

If you can, grind up pruned branches and leaves to use as mulch. But if you know your plant clippings have a disease or major insect issue, send those to the green waste, and purchase your mulch instead. Sometimes in urban neighborhoods, it's hard to convince ourselves and our neighbors to use ordinary ground up plant materials instead of uniform bark nuggets.

The best mulch is the plants' own leaves and twigs, so if you can stand it, leave the leaves under your trees and shrubs. But any kind of mulch, even uniform "pebble" or "walk on" mulch is better than nothing, so just do what works for you. Rock and gravel are also considered mulch, with many of the same benefits as organic products. Rock holds heat in the summer, however, so not all plants thrive with rock mulch.

Many commercial and public spaces are mulched with rock and I watch through the summer as many plants wither and die. I think many municipal and commercial gardeners don't know what to do with organic mulch, so it ends up leaving the property as the power blowers do their work week after week.

But for us home gardeners, we can probably slow down and take the time to rake and tidy the organic mulch without removing it completely. And we can replenish as needed when we start to see bare dirt.

Conserving

Consider leaving some seed stalks on some of your ornamental grasses and perennials for birds to forage this winter. In the edible garden, add straw, old hay, alfalfa pellets and/or compost to the planting beds. If you take care of the soil, your plants will be stronger and better able to resist pest pressures next year, making it possible to save time and money and reduce the need for synthetic chemicals.

Experts agree instead of feeding plants with purchased fertilizers, we should make efforts to care for the soil, and let the soil take care of the plants.

Enjoy the colors of fall, including our natural native tapestry of golds, browns, yellows, rust and greens. Happy harvest! Happy growing!

Questions?

Call the Master Gardeners:

Tulare County: (559) 684-3325, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m .;

Kings County: (559) 852-2736, Thursday only, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Visit our website for past articles, sign up for our e-newsletter, or email us with your questions: http://ucanr.edu/sites/UC_Master_Gardeners/

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