November in the Garden

Bring the beauty of gardening indoors with amaryllis bulbs and paperwhites. Both of these are easy to grow and will add a fresh feeling of something new and something growing to your living space. Potting up either of these will take you little time but for weeks to come you will be rewarded with a satisfied feeling of being the gardener extraordinaire!

Light up your garden with Christmas lights. When it comes time to put up your Christmas lights instead of lighting up your house (or as wells as) how about lighting up your trees. I always love when the Christmas lights on Shoppers Row go up. One of the things I love about winter is seeing the outline of magnificent trees. There is much to be learned about growing and pruning trees from standing back and observing the form of mature trees.

Add trees to your yard. November is just about the best time to add trees to your yard. What makes November great is that the trees are going dormant making it the least stressful time for transplanting. You might decide to add fruit trees for summer harvesting or ornamental trees such as dogwood, maple, hawthorn, birch and oak trees to add shade, privacy and interest to your yard.

Plant hedging for privacy. Privacy is one of those things that when you really want it, you want it now. If you need more privacy in your garden you probably wish you had a mature hedge that was planted years ago so don't let another year go by without getting that hedge planted.

When you choose a hedge there are considerations to be made:-

1.      Does your hedge need to be deer resistant?

2.     How tall will you want it to be when it is full size? 

3.     Do you prefer a conifer hedge (needles and cones) or a broad leaf evergreen hedge such as boxwood or English laurel?

Become the King or Queen of the Compost (sorry the rank of Diva is already taken by Elaine at the Compost Eduction Facility) One of the best ways to have a great garden and beautiful plants is to have plenty of homemade compost to use when transplanting new plants to your garden and to add to your veggie patch. Making great compost is all about layering and worms. Good stuff goes in, chopped leaves, peels, coffee grounds, old potting soil, grass clippings and soft plant trimming, and great stuff comes out. If you have little ones in your life, take them "Glogging". My sister, Sheilagh, coined the term with my little brother, Jamie (now a father himself). Glogging is to go out walking on a rainy day with gum boots, rain coats and a bucket and collect the worms that come out onto the pavement to take home to your compost. More worms = better compost.

Spread Seaweed on your garden. Seaweed and kelp is so good for your garden. We sell it dry and ready to apply but you can also collect your own. Remember to wash the salt off it before you add it to your garden. You can rinse it off easily in a bucket, wheelbarrow or leave it spread out away from your garden when it is raining. 

Happy Gardening!

Shauna