Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

In November it is time to spend time with family and friends enjoying fall favorites dishes with pumpkin, apples, and more.  Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for November. Events include A Forest Journey, Nature Matters Lecture Series,  Saturday Rambles – Seneca Creek Greenway, Music on the Farm and Sensory Sunday at the Agricultural Historic Park, and more!

Planning:

• When planning your wildlife-friendly backyard don’t forget to include native trees and shrubs that produce fall and winter persistent fruits.
• Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
• Store terra cotta pots in a shed or protected areas.
• Turn off outdoor water valve and store hoses.
• Take garden photos and make notes in your garden journal.
• Start collecting plant seeds for next year and for trading.
• Order spring-flowering bulbs to arrive for planting this fall.
• Sign up your friends and family for garden magazine subscriptions as holiday gifts.
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture Farmer’s Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Continue planting hardy, spring-flowering bulbs.
• Clean out and store containers.
• After blooming, cut mums back to 6 inches above ground.
• Cut back perennials that have turned to mush. Leave others with seed heads for birds.
• Continue to deadhead spent flowers.
• Continue to divide and transplant perennials.
• Prune and mulch hybrid tea roses.
• Force spring bulbs for indoor blooms this January by potting them up, watering thoroughly, and placing them in your vegetable crisper for about 10 weeks.
• Take cuttings from coleus and begonias to propagate and over-winter indoors.
• Start seeds of pansies, calendula, flowering cabbage, kale, and other fall annuals.
• Pests to watch for: voles
• Diseases to watch for:  Blackspot on roses; powdery mildew, rust, bacterial diseases, fungal leaf spot.
• See UMD’s HGIC’s November Flower tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Trees and shrubs can be planted until the ground freezes.
• Dig hole now if you will be planting  a “live” Christmas tree.
• Plant evergreens for winter interest.
• No more fertilizing for the year. But planting is still OK.
• Water slowly and deeply if weather is very dry.
• Look out for any Poison Ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the fall and be easy to distinguish from other vines.
• Continue removing diseased leaves.
• Remove fallen, diseased leaves.
• Check for bagworms: pick off, bag, and dispose of them.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• If your conifers start shedding their needles or your spring bulb foliage starts peeking out of the ground, don’t worry. This is normal for our autumn cycle.
• Prune evergreens to get in shape for fall/winter.
• Prune and thin shrubs that have already flowered.
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs weekly or as needed.
• Pests to watch for:  adelgids, aphids, bagworms, borers, caterpillars, leafminers, scale, sawfly, spidermites, voles, and webworms.
• Diseases to watch for: powdery mildew
• See HGIC’s November Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

• Have soil tested (every 3 years minimum).
• Fertilize your lawn and reseed if needed.
• Apply fertilizer and lime to turfgrass based on soil tests and UME recommendations.
• Begin mowing leaves into turf to add organic matter and nutrients.
• Keep newly seeded lawns well watered!
• Apply grub control to your lawn.
• Rake leaves, shred, and gather in compost piles.
• Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. Work compost into your planting beds.
• Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
• Pests to watch for: Grubs
• See HGIC’s November Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• Bring in house plants if you took them out for the summer.
• Mid-month, pot amaryllis for winter holiday bloom.
• Bring Amaryllis indoors before a hard freeze. Repot every other year at this time.
• Pot up Paper Whites and Amaryllis for holiday blooming.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film to build-up.
• Set up a humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
• Reduce fertilizing of indoor plants (except cyclamen).
• Rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
• Do not place live wreaths or greenery in-between your door and a glass storm door, especially if the doorway is facing south. This placement will “cook” the arrangement on a sunny day.
• For readying Christmas cactus and poinsettias for holiday blooming, see holiday blooming tips: Poinsettia Plant Care, Holiday Plant Care
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Monitor houseplants that are outside for insect problems.
• Fertilize houseplants now that they are actively growing again.
• Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, mealybug, spider mites,  whitefly and scale.
• See HGIC’s November Houseplants Tips for more tips.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Start feeding birds to get them in the habit for the winter.
• Caulk and seal your home to prevent wildlife from coming indoors.
• Vacuum up any ladybugs that come in the house.
• Don’t put your birdbath away. Birds need fresh water for drinking and bathing throughout the fall season. Clean frequently and keep filled with fresh water.
• Check for vole problems and set up traps.
• Check for mosquito breeding grounds. Dump out any water that sits stagnant for more than three days.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• See HGIC’s November Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, moles, snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s November Wildlife tips.

Source: University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) and the Washington Gardener.

See below for upcoming local events in November.