Gardening Tasks for Late Autumn

Author: Meera, November 20, 2015

Falling leaves, shorter days, and colder weather signal that winter is around the corner. With roughly a month left before winter officially begins, there are plenty of tasks for the home gardener. Don’t put away your boots, buckets, gloves, trowel, and spade just yet.

 

 

After the grape harvest, the leaves change from green to gold or brown and become dry

After the grape harvest, the leaves change from green to gold or brown and become dry

 

 

 

If you grow grapes and raspberries or blackberries, now would be the time to prune those back before mulching with compost, leaves, or sawdust. Composting suppresses weed growth.

 

 

Pick and pumpkins, apples, and winter squash. Store them in a dry area at temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

 

 

This young rhubarb flourishes in rich soil and some protection from intense, direct sun

This young rhubarb flourishes in rich soil and some protection from intense, direct sun

 

 

 

Rhubarb plants can be divided now. Make sure there’s an eye on each new plant and tuck into rich soil and mulch.

 

 

 

This candy-stripe rose was a gift from a friend--a cutting from her rose that became a large bush in my care

This candy-stripe rose requires a good pruning in the fall to generate a large bush with beautiful blooms in the spring

 

 

 

Remove leaves and prune back roses to 12 to 18 inches. Add some bone meal to the base of the bush and work into the soil.

 

 

Plant bulbs that will flower in the spring such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, crocus, and scillas.

 

 

Prepare a bed for onion seedlings or sets and plant them now for spring harvesting.

 

 

Plant red, yellow, or white onions in the fall for spring harvesting

Plant red, yellow, or white onions in the fall for spring harvesting

 

 

Fill bird feeders, hang a warming light in your hen house for the freezing nights ahead, and put blankets around your bee hives.

 

 

Transfer potted mums into garden soil. Most are perennials and will return year after year.

 

 

Plant kale, ornamental cabbage, and winter-hardy plants such as pansies in the garden or window boxes for winter color.

 

 

Move cold-sensitive houseplants indoors.

 

 

 

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