As sozzled as the 2018 gardening time of year was , 2019 was hotter and siccative . Instead of exit with fungus kingdom and mildews , we had to combat athirst pocket-size mammals and insects . More manual watering means a greater time commitment and for those of us with home water limitations , a mettle - rack requirement . I was appreciative of the efficiencies of my raised bed this class and mould at mulching to reduce watering need . Gardeners are nothing if not adaptable .
For some of us , November means a stress on raise cool weather crop a little longer with row covers , moth-eaten frames , or greenhouses . See Cleve Campbell ’s articleExtending the Gardening Seasonfrom the September 2018Garden Shedfor steering .
For others , it ’s clean up time . This means move out all onetime botany and create , especially pathologic material . Good hygiene now will reduce disease and louse risk next season .
Once you get the garden clean , there are a couple of footprint that , taken now , will benefit your garden in the give . Tilling constitutional matter into the soil in the drop , take into account rot to progress over wintertime and will improve grime characteristics in next year ’s garden . Compost and chop leaves are good candidates .
photograph : Raised seam winterized with a layer of organic mulch
After the soil is remedy , it ’s fresh to protect it over the winter with a mulch or extend harvest . An organic mulch applied now will facilitate moderate soil temporary over the winter , reduce nutrient and carbon red ink and enable you to plant sooner in the springtime . Again , leaves are a convenient mulch for many of us . endure them over a distich of time with a lawn lawn mower and spread a 2 - 3 ” layer on the grime . Straw , forest chips , sawdust and other constitutive mulches are also skillful but leaf in general need to be dealt with anyway , are brassy and break down quickly , so are a great selection .
picture : Crimson clover growing in as covert harvest in raised seam
Cover cropsare another option and maybe a preferred one . It ’s best to start them about a month before frost , so , depending on the conditions , it may be late for set . But if the quick weather condition normal holds a few workweek longer than common , germinate a cover crop may be possible . Rake the garden surface smooth , circulate cover crop seed per directions , crease lightly and irrigate . Winter kill cover crops will die off after a few punishing hoar and the idle botany service to protect soil , hold weeds down and provide organic subject in the saltation . wintertime hardy treat crop will grow slowly or go dormant in winter but restart in other spring . Legumes will enrich the soil by prepare nitrogen in their rootage , reducing compaction and building stain structure . In the give , thin the tops prior to their going to seed and twist it in or compost it . As noted last calendar month , more information on cover craw can be come up in earlierGarden Shedarticles includingCover Cropsfrom September 2015 andMinimum Till Cultivationfrom the February 2019 emergence .
exposure : Fall leaves and grass clippings get a compost batch afoot
November is also a good time to commence acompost batch . last lawn mowing and leaf removal generate a groovy mix of nitrogen and carbon base organic materials to get decomposition set off . microbic activity will definitely retard down during the dead of wintertime , but with a footling commixture to keep it activate and good wet direction , it will be primed to take off as temps rise in early spring . It also provide a place to deposit kitchen yield and veggie cuttings during the winter to give the pile a atomic number 7 boost that will cannonball along the rotting operation and help get the compost to a quick - to - use state for next summertime ’s garden . The finer you chop the materials , the faster they will break down . Check out this clause from theJanuary 2018 consequence of The Garden Shedfor detailed advice .
November may be your last chance to get your garden documentation in monastic order . know what you planted and where you plant it is important . Good crop rotation practice helps derogate disease and louse issues next year . Also , noting the crops and variety that did and did n’t do well provides counselling as you shop for seeds and plants for next year ’s garden .
Other tips from the Extension Service include :
Sources :
top photograph : ufl.edu , Molly Jameson
Virginia Cooperative Extension , Albemarle / Charlottesville , November Monthly Horticulture Tip Sheets , Va. Coop . Ext . Monthly Tip Sheets
