Gardening ideas for November

1. Clean up--not always fun, but necessary. Pull up summer crop plants such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers etc. and compost or burn them. Also discard all those weeds from your garden and flower beds.

2. Good News--Keep harvesting! There are still a number of cold weather crops such as lettuce, broccoli, kale, etc. that will keep your garden productive. If using plastic hoop tents make sure you water the plants inside as the plastic cover prevents the rain from reaching the plants. Also check for slugs. They are in full force in wet weather, even when it is cold.

3. Start applying soil improvements such as your own compost or manure. I use fresh horse manure on empty raised beds until the end of December. It will be decomposed enough by planting time in spring. You can also spread compost around existing plants (such as bushes or perennials ) no higher than 2 inches.

4. It is still possible to plant spring flowering bulbs (tulips, daffodils) and transplant and divide perennials but it is getting late.

5. Start planning next year's garden!