Early November has blown in attempting to make up for an entire summer of no rain all at once…on bottle drive day!! I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much rain gear you have on the water WILL get in. Resistance is futile…you WILL become soggy!!
At one point while counting ‘spirits 1 litre and under’ glass bottles and lifting them into the appropriate bin (for those of you who have never done a bottle drive please take a moment and give thanks) I managed to dump an almost full bottle of wine inside the sleeve of my rain jacket and all down the front. Thankfully the corner of the Easy-Up tent collapsed under the heavy downpour a half hour later providing an unexpected chance to wash off the wine. Yay.
Bring The Garden Indoors
It's a great time to bring the things we like from outdoors to the indoors. Enjoy beautiful blooms with Amaryllis, fragrance from Paperwhite Daffodil bulbs, colour from Poinsettias and style from Airplants. When you have finished procrastinating, here is your garden to do list for November!
Lawns
Likely most of you have gotten your last mow in and now it’s time to clean out and drain the gas out of your mower. We haven’t really had a hard frost but I am going to say you are probably out of time to apply grass seed. You can still lay turf though if you have areas to patch. Pay attention to any ponding or puddling and address those drainage issues immediately.
Trees and Shrubs
You can still plant trees and hardy shrubs as long as the ground is not frozen and waterlogged. Avoid digging in waterlogged soil as this will cause compaction of the soil layers. Remove any dead damaged or diseased branches now but leave any major pruning until January/February. Pick-up your Lime Sulphur / Dormant Oil Spray for use in the late Winter or early spring before your trees begin to leaf.
Garden Beds
Mulch with shredded leaves as needed. Complete any moving of perennials as needed if you are a bit of a garden shuffler like me. It's not too late to plant bulbs. Mark their location in a garden diary…or take a photo if needed to remind yourself where and what you’ve planted. My Dahlia’s are STILL up and if the frost doesn’t knock them back so I can dig them up and dry them out before storing in the next few days I will cut them back and leave them to dry on some cardboard in the garage with a fan.
Over-Wintering Palm Trees
Wrap with non-LED older style Christmas lights…a trick told to me by a gentleman from the Palm Society. Christmas lights make great (and festive!) heaters for a smaller greenhouse or cold frame as well. Do what you can to protect the crown from snow and ice and try to shield the plant from the cold, drying winds of winter. The windmill palm is hardy to zone 7, meaning, that as long as we don't get too far below zero celsius, the plant should survive a Metro Vancouver winter.
Pots and Planters
I am still waiting for a good blow down so I can collect some fir and pine branches to fill in my planters. Believe it or not I still have flowering begonias in my planters. As heartless as it sounds I now am forced to pull them out so I can add my winter colour. I’ll augment my live winter colour plants with the cut greens and will buy a bunch of curly willow or red twig dogwood for a bit of wow. For those outdoor pots that need protection, providing they are mostly out of sight, you can insulate with bagged leaves or carpet underlay or bubble wrap.
Irrigation Systems
If you haven’t already done so blow out your irrigation, pumps, overturn birdbaths if you are able. Continue to clean out leaves from ponds and cut back pond lilies.
Feed The Birds
Continue to fill hummingbird feeders and clean in between fills! Yes we DO have varieties here that remain for the winter. Time also to crack out the bird feeders and to make sure you clean and maintain them. Time to start collecting your pinecones so you can have them ready to make peanut butter birdseed pinecones when it gets really cold to feed our feathered friends!
That should do for now. Don’t forget to take some time for yourself to snuggle in with a good book on a blustery day. Take your vitamin C and do some garden daydreaming! Next year is a fresh start!!