Northerners can also treat November as a time to evaluate their garden layout. After the cold weather lays everything bare, you can more clearly see the architecture or “bones” of the garden. This is a great time to record critiques of your garden in a garden journal so that for next year, you can plan to add hardscape or evergreen shrubs to improve the architecture. Perform these November garden tasks according to region.
All Regions
Some tasks need to be completed in November regardless of the region.
Rake leaves off the lawn to use in making leaf mold, mulch, or compost. Add organic matter to flower borders and other garden beds. Cover your compost pile so that the rain does not leach out its nutrients.
Mid-Atlantic
In November, the Mid-Atlantic can see both moderate temperatures and some cool weather. Take full advantage of the moderate days. Your garden will appreciate the attention.
Bring in garden tools for the winter. Clean, sharpen, and oil them first. Keep removing weeds. It is easier to see them now that the garden plants have died back. Now is a great time to get rid of some perennial weeds such as field horsetail. Keep watering until the ground freezes (after which point water is blocked from getting down to your plants’ roots). Pay particular attention to those trees and shrubs you just put in the ground this fall. In zone 7, plant spring bulbs.
Midwest
An early snowstorm is entirely possible in parts of the Midwest in November. In areas such as Minnesota, be sure to take care of business in the yard before it is too late.
Continue harvesting cool-season vegetables like Brussels sprouts and those that grow underground, such as carrots. Keep watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes. There is much you can do to protect a rose bush for the winter. Mound up soil around the crown and cover its bud union. Tie down the canes of climbing roses so that high winds do not whip them around. Continue to remove garden debris. If it is free of pests and diseases, you can compost it, otherwise, throw it away. In zone 6, plant spring bulbs.
Northeast
November is generally a cool, grey month in the Northeast. It can snow, and truly wintry weather is not that far away.
Deer-proof evergreen shrubs by encircling them with stakes and attaching burlap to the stakes. Protect the bark of saplings from gnawing mice by wrapping tree guards around the lowest parts of the trunks. To protect a plant from voles, avoid piling up mulch too close to the plant. If vole damage persists, consider growing vole-resistant plants next year. Get the snowblower ready for winter. In zone 6, plant spring bulbs. Finish raking leaves off the lawn. Set up any outdoor Christmas decorations you use in late November before it gets bitterly cold outside.
Pacific Northwest
November brings an average high of 52, an average low of 41, and lots of rain to areas of the region, such as Seattle.
Before it is too late, sow a cover crop in the vegetable garden. Fall is a great time to sow wildflower seeds in that out-of-the-way area of the yard where the hose does not reach. The seeds will not have to deal with a hot, pounding sun right away. When they do sprout in spring, there will be plenty of rain and moderate temperatures for them to thrive in, unaided. Practice sound snail and slug control.
Pacific Coast
November can bring chilly nights to Northern California, but there will still be some warm days. The average high in San Francisco, for example, is 63 F, while the average low is 50 and there is an average of nine days of rain during the month. Southern California experiences moderate weather, with an average high of 73 F and an average low of 52 F in Los Angeles, for example, which gets three days of rainfall in November.
Northern California
Harvest your cool-season vegetables often. Practice succession planting to maximize your harvest. Sow wildflower seeds. Begin control of insect pests in the stone-fruit orchard. Plant roses and azaleas.
Southern California
Divide perennials. Plant camellias and tropical fruit trees. Prune flowering trees after they are done flowering.
Southwest
In the high desert, temperatures get cool in November. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example, expect an average high of 53 F and an average low of 25 F; and you will get about four days of rain. Phoenix, Arizona, becomes much more moderate in November than it was in prior months: You will have an average high of 76 F and an average low of 52 F. One thing that does not change is that there will be hardly any rain.
Plant cool-season vegetables. Plant new asparagus. Trim back the tops of old asparagus after the frost turns them yellow.
Southeast
The weather is moderate in November in parts of the Southeast. Atlanta will see an average high of 64 F and an average low of 45; this city will get nine rainy days in November.
Keep planting perennials.Deter fall cankerworm from your trees by applying sticky barriers, like Tanglefoot, after their leaves have fallen. The “worm” is the larva of an adult moth. The latter emerges from the ground after a hard freeze and begins climbing your trees’ trunks. After mating, eggs are laid on small twigs, where they overwinter. The larvae hatch in spring and feed on buds and new leaves.Stay posted for frost warnings. Protect tender plants with row covers.
