November Garden Tasks

Vegetable Garden 

• Clean out old plants and compost including Asparagus beds as the fronds fade. Harvest Jerusalem artichokes, broccoli, radishes, peas, parsnips, lettuce, leeks, potatoes, kale, collards, celery, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
• Prepare beds for early plantings of peas this allows for an earlier planting in the spring before the soil dries out enough to be worked.
• Plant Fava beans (cover crops can double as a source of beans for the table), garlic, onions, rhubarb and artichokes.
• Prune the fruiting top sections of evergreen raspberries once they finish producing fruit and leave the lower section of branch for next years early crop. Other raspberries can be topped off at 5 feet and staked.
• Store your bounty by freezing canning or hanging in a cool garage.

Flower Garden

• Plant pansies outdoors now and enjoy the flowers until late spring. Mound soil or leaves around the base of hybrid teas and other grafted roses to protect the graft union from frost.
• Prune rampant suckers from the base of lilacs which will take away from next years bloom.
• Prepare and plant wildflower bed and broadcast seeds. This can be done in the spring as well but you can get a head start now and focus on other tasks come spring.

General Landscaping 

• Prepare open beds in the flower and vegetable garden with organic matter and organic fertilizers. Chopped leaves, peat moss or compost can be added now to improve the soil’s humus levels. This improves the structure, drainage and nutrient holding capacity of your soil. For established beds work in organic matter and fertilizers around the plants and cultivate them into the to few inches of soil.
• Mow lawn to 1.5 to 2 inches for the winter This keeps the lawn healthy and prevents the lawn from matting down.
• Keep leaves and compost or make a dedicated leaf mold pile for future mulch unless they are from allelopathic trees (producing chemicals that inhibit other species growth) like the genera Juglans (e.g. Black Walnut or Aesculus (e.g. Horse Chestnut).
• Drain and clean man made pools and ponds. Remove tropical plants and store hardy lilies.
• Very last call for planting trees and shrubs including woody fruiting plants.

Source: http://www.horticultureguy.com/garden-calendar-planner/november-garden-tasks/

Hydrangea Care

Growth: Hydrangeas are relatively non-finicky plants. They will grow in a multitude of soil conditions including clay, stony or sandy that are either alkaline or acidic. Naturally, hydrangeas are found in either full sun or in dappled shade provided by deciduous trees. Deep shade, like that provided by dense evergreens, tends to lead to unthrifty plants. It should be noted that hydrangeas require ample moisture and will perform poorly if it is not provided in either condition. Scorch is not an uncommon problem for plants in a sunny, dry position.

Flowering: A summer-flowering plant, the flower heads usually consist of a mix of sterile and non-sterile flowers. Most flowers change color when they age. The sterile flowers don’t fade and go to seed, which is the reason for their long blossoming time. Flower color for macrophylla and serrata hydrangea types tend to be influenced by soil acidity.

Feeding: It is beneficial for hydrangeas to receive a spring feeding with a balanced fertilizer high in nitrogen and a top dressing of compost. When adjusting pH to influence bloom color towards blue, use a fertilizer high in nitrogen and potash, and low in phosphates. Avoid superphosphates as they tend towards alkalinity. Gar- den sulfur is one of the best additives for increasing soil acidity. 

When adjusting pH to influence bloom color towards pink/red, use a fertilizer with high phosphorus. Dolomite lime is one of the best additives for decreasing soil acidity. For the above pH adjustments, apply 1/3 of the annual amount 3x a year so as not to burn the roots. Be persistent; it may take up to 3 years for a hydrangea to settle into its permanent color.

Pruning: As a group, hydrangeas are unique in that the best time to prune them is during winter. Each group has slightly different requirements, but in general remove dead and diseased branches, thin weak stems and reduce the height as desired. Selective pruning has the added benefit of increasing the quality and size of the flowers.

*In the fall, after the plants have gone dormant, certain varieties require 12 inches of mulch

for winter protection directly over the center of the plant. Most of these varieties are found in the macrophylla and serrata families. Ask your nursery professional for further

assistance. 

Disease and pests: Hydrangeas are relatively pest-free. Slugs and snails may occasionally bother the macrophylla types; control with slug bait. Mildew could be a problem in wet, humid summers; apply a fungicide to control it.