As the weather turns colder, here’s a November to-do list for gardeners

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind for November:

Plant: trees, shrubs, grapevines and ground cover. Spring onions, including daffodils and grape hyacinths. Spring and summer flowering perennials including daisies, daylilies, irises, lilies, lythrum, thrift, etc. Pre-cool tulips and Dutch hyacinths at around 40 degrees for 45 days before planting in December.

Finish planting spring bloomers in the cool season, including alyssum, California and Icelandic poppies, dianthus and English daisies, flowering cabbage and kale, Johnny jump-ups, pansies, petunias, pinks, snapdragons, etc. Cool season grasses like rye and kale Fescue, as well as clover and vetch.

Dwarf white clover in bare areas as needed. Vegetables and herbs for the cool season.

Fertilize: Bulbs, annuals and perennials with earthworm casts, other quality composts and other gentle, organic fertilizers. Indoor plants with earthworm watering, lava sand and other low-odor organic fertilizers.

Cool grasses and other actively growing plants with organic fertilizer. Apply half an inch of compost to poorly performing lawns. Fertilize and soak actively growing plants with compost tea, fish and algae or Garrett Juice.

Prune: All vines made from branches, trunks and root flares. Remove ground cover, grass, and soil from the tree roots. If necessary, start with a larger pruning. Protect the branch collars by never making flush cuts. If possible, remove dead branches before the leaves fall. Don’t prune too much. Pick shrubs to remove the longest shoots if necessary. Slightly transparent stubborn plants. Remove dead flowers from annual and perennial plants or leave the seed heads to the birds. Cut off the tips of the brown perennials. Remove used yearbooks.

It is time to buy floating row covers and plan how you can protect plants that may be sensitive to early frost.(Howard Garrett / special article)

Water: All planting areas at least once if it is not raining. Add a tablespoon to an ounce of apple cider vinegar to every gallon of water used for indoor and outdoor potted plants – or at least as often as possible.

Pests: Check the roots of distant plants for nematode lumps on the roots. Treat infected soil with bio-stimulants, molasses, compost, and / or citrus pulp. Apply whole ground corn flour or dry garlic granules to the bottom. Spray essential oil products as needed. Watch the lawn for signs of pinworm damage. Grass is loose and not connected to the ground. Treat with dry molasses or beneficial nematodes. For organic gardeners with healthy soil, these insects are rarely a problem.

If Brown Patch Disease still occurs in the lawn, treat it with whole-ground cornmeal and soak it in garlic tea if the problem persists. Applying dry garlic granules can also be effective.

Weeds: remove by hand.

Weird Jobs: Picking Tomatoes the Day Before First Freezing. Let them mature inside. Put used annuals and other vegetative material in the compost heap. Mulch fallen leaves into the lawn. Put any excess in beds or on top of the compost heap. Do not plow or plow if healthy soil has developed in the vegetable garden. Mulch all bare ornamental, vegetable and herb beds with shredded pruning mulch for winter protection and to build up healthy soil.

Turn compost heaps over if time permits.

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