Gardening Tips for November 2023

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• Winter Color- Primroses, Cyclamen, Leucanthemum paludosum.
• Frost Hardy Shrubs- Escallonia, Dodonaea viscosa 'Purpurea', Cistus, Grevillea, Rosemary.
• Veggies - Artichoke, Shallots, Spinach.
• Bulbs- Allium, Crocus, Freesia, Sparaxis tricolor, Watsonia.

• Garlic- November in Sonoma County is time to plant the garlic purchased in October while the supplies were good. Garlic likes deeply dug, well draining soil. Once planted, if rain has not started yet, water garlic once the tips start to come up.  Continue to water until rains are here in earnest and whenever there is a long stretch of no rain.
• Fruit Trees - Clean up fallen fruit and old fruit from fruit trees. Keeping fruiting plants cleaned up helps to prevent mold on old fruit and also deters rodents, raccoons, and pest insects.  
• Fallen Leaves, To rake or not rake- If you have areas where not much is growing in winter, you can let fallen leaves decompose on the ground. If you have winter color plants, such as Pansies, Iceland Poppies, Cyclamen and others, rake up the fallen leaves in these planting beds as the layer of leaves is a great place for pest insects, such as snails, slugs, earwigs, and sowbugsto hide.
• Pruning -When Dahlias die back cut stems off at ground level. If your garden has good winter drainage, you can leave Dahlia tubers in the ground but if your garden soil holds water in winter, it's best to lift the tubers to avoid them rotting.  Dig tubers and brush off soil (avoid getting them wet). If needed, use permanent maker to write the flower color on the tuber. Store tubers in a cool, dark and dry place (may need to be stored in mostly dry peat moss or sawdust). Prune out suckers from Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick).  Watch The Gardening Tutor Video: How To Remove Suckers from Trees and Shrubs.
• Pest Management- Rats can be a real problem in the home and garden. Now is a good time to check that your house is sealed from rats entering and hiding under the house or in the attic. Rats can chew on plants and their stems so badly that the plants cannot recover. Also, trim back tree branches that provide easy access for rats to get to the roof of buildings. Continue to bait or handpick slugs, snails,

             sowbugs, and earwigs, especially around new plantings.  

• Irrigation- Look to see which plants are under eaves and remember to water them during winter when the automatic irrigation system is off. In general, dehydrated plants are hit harder by frost and rainwater rarely reaches the plants under eaves enough to penetrate the soil.
• Bulbs - Now that temperatures have cooled down here in Sonoma County, Zone 9, it's time to plant spring blooming bulbs! Add a little bone meal in the bottom of the planting hole. Mix the bone meal into the bottom of the planting hole, cover with some soil and plant the bulb. Filling containers with bulbs makes a beautiful display in springtime. Containers can be placed in garden beds just before blooming and taken away to die back in the container and out of sight.
• Harvest pomegranates when ripe and before rains (rain makes the fruit split). Pomegranates are ripe when they reach full color and are heavy for their size. When in doubt about ripeness, cut a fruit open and taste it. Pomegranates can be kept in the refrigerator for months! Even if they split the fruit can still be eaten and/or juiced. Harvest split fruits before they start to mold.

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