What to do in the garden in November

In the garden

It’s still a good time to plant, especially trees and hardy shrubs. Gather fallen leaves and put them in the compost bin or use them as mulch on the vegetable patch. Get horticultural fleece ready to cover frost-tender plants for the first frosts at the end of the month.

Lawn

Growth slows down. Do the last mows without going below 5 cm and clear leaves often. If some areas get waterlogged, aerate the soil by spiking it with a garden fork.

Watering

Water very little and only when the soil is dry. Autumn rain usually covers what an established garden needs. If you have drip irrigation on new plants, keep it at a low frequency, once a week or less.

Pruning

• Remove dead and broken branches after storms.
• Tidy up roses: dead flowers and weak stems.
• Wait for winter for hard pruning of deciduous trees (January and February) and palms (December to February).

Vegetables and fruit trees

Pick olives when they change colour, depending on whether you want oil or table olives. The mandarin season begins and the persimmons carry on. Plant garlic, onions, broad beans and strawberries. It’s a good time to plant new citrus trees in areas without hard frosts.

Plants of the month

• Fruit trees: citrus, olives, pomegranates and figs.
• Mediterranean hedging: pittosporum, mastic tree, elaeagnus.
• Winter flowers: cyclamen, pansies, primulas.
• Spring bulbs, if you haven’t planted them yet.

Hedra’s tip

Before the first frosts, work out which plants in your garden can’t take them: young bougainvillea, hibiscus, tropical succulents and citrus in pots. Pots can go against a south-facing wall. For plants in the ground, cover them with fleece only on frosty nights, never with plastic touching the leaves.