November Garden Activities:

• Plow or spade gardens.

• Order garden catalogues.

• Inspect houseplants for the presence of insect pests. If necessary treat with a house plant insecticide spray.
   
• Some members of the African violet family become dormant in winter, e.g. Sinningias or Streptocarpus (Dauphin Violet). Reduce frequency of watering and don’t fertilize. For a cool indoor area, choose the pocketbook plant or Cineraria.

• Prepare your lawn mower, and other landscape equipment with small engines, for winter storage by changing the oil and filter.   Inspect and change the spark plug if necessary. Sharpen the mower blade.  Clean and sharpen other garden tools.
   
• Clean garden sprayers.  Store liquid herbicides & insecticides in a frost-free area.

• Protect fruit trees from rabbit and vole injury.

• Apply dormant fungicide application to peach trees for peach leaf curl now or in March.

• Apply a layer of loose, organic mulch on strawberry plantings, to a depth of four inches, in late November or early December after the soil has frozen to a depth of 1/2 inch, or the temperature has dropped to the 20s for three consecutive days.  Do not apply the mulch too early in the fall as it can delay hardening off, making plants more susceptible to winter injury, and increasing crown rot. Suitable mulches include wood chips, pine straw, newspapers, coarse sawdust, straw, clean hay or any loose mulch that will not compact heavily

• Apply winter mulches to non-hardy perennials and roses.

• Cut down and burn, chip or bury pine trees suspected to have been killed by pine wilt before May 1.

• Monitor weekly precipitation, whether snow or rain, and water during dry periods when the soil is not frozen.  Winter droughts need treatment with water just as summer droughts do.  Deeply water trees with a slowly running sprinkler left in place long enough to moisten the top 12 inches of soil.  Do not use 'root feeders' or deep root watering devices. Apply the water slowly enough that it can soak in and does not run off.