November has arrived and autumn will soon be making that harsher transition into winter. What can you be doing this week outside in your garden to start making it winter-proof?
1 - Cut the grass if the weather remains warm and dry, and trim the
edges.
2 - Cut down all dead flower stems on herbaceous perennials and tidy
borders to remove foliage and plant remains, compost this material.
Leave late-flowering perennials.
3 - Sow a row of hardy peas and cover with cloches. Broad beans can also
be sown now.
4 - Remove old vegetable crops, clear the ground and dig compost or
manure into the soil. Leave heavy soil rough-dug so frost can penetrate
to help break it down.
5 - Lift dahlia tubers when the foliage has been blackened by frost.
6 - Rake and scarify lawns to remove thatch and other debris.
7 - Bring potted late-flowering chrysanthemums under glass before frost
strikes.
8 - Throw a net over a branch bearing holly berries to stop the birds
pecking at them.
9 - Wrap grease bands around the trunks of apple, plum and cherry trees
to catch the winter moth as she climbs to lay her eggs.
10 - Continue to take hardwood cuttings of roses and shrubs like cornus,
buddleia and ribes.
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