Cold snaps have arrived but cropping can still continue. Late November is perfect for establishing hardy staples, and planning steady pickings through winter and early spring. Focus on soil health first, then choose crops that relish the cool.
BED PREP THAT PAYS YOU BACK
Clear any spent plants and remove weeds, roots and all. Fork in organic matter like farmyard manure or homemade garden compost to improve structure and drainage. Avoid working saturated soil to prevent compaction. If you’re leaving a bed to rest, cover it with cardboard and mulch to suppress winter weeds and conserve nutrients. Where fertility is low, sow green manures such as field beans in milder areas, then chop and mulch in spring.
PLANT NOW
Plant garlic while soil is workable. Space cloves 15cm apart in rows 30cm apart. Choose reliable types such as ‘Germidour’ and hardneck ‘Lautrec Wight’, 2.5cm deep. In free-draining ground, autumn onion sets, including ‘Shakespeare’ and shallots like ‘Jermor’, can still go in. Firm gently with the tips just poking out of the soil, and mulch lightly. Learn more in my episode of step by step gardening, at my YouTube channel, @daviddomoney.
SOW FOR AN EARLY SPRING SURGE
In the south, sow hardy broad beans such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ direct, or use trays in cooler regions and plant out in March. Under cloches or a cold frame, try pea ‘Meteor’ and winter lettuce ‘Winter Density’. Water sparingly, ventilate on mild days, and harvest young to keep growth ticking.
PLANT BARE-ROOT FRUIT FOR VALUE
Bare-root raspberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries establish superbly now. Improve the planting hole with compost and a dusting of mycorrhizal fungi. Set raspberries shallow, tie to wires, and mulch to lock in moisture.
SIMPLE DEFENCES
A low tunnel or fleece draped over hoops lifts soil temperature and shields seedlings. Peg securely so covers don’t chafe stems.
Slugs remain active in mild spells, so use wildlife-friendly controls. Good airflow reduces grey mould on winter salads.
PATIO POTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP
Fill deep containers with peat-free compost and slow-release feed. Add cut-and-come-again leaves near a south-facing wall.
Water little but often, never allowing pots to sit in trays of cold water.
WEEKLY HABITS FOR STEADY HARVESTS
Walk the plot after rain to check covers, ties and drainage. Pick little and often to prompt new growth. Note gaps and order seeds for January sowings under cover.
Top 5 Gardening Jobs
1 As November closes, give the greenhouse a winter tune-up. Check panes, seals and gutters, and add some insulation. Make sure you can still ventilate on mild days. Raise tender plants off the floor, add a min-max thermometer and set a small frost-stat heater for cold snaps. Clean the glazing, benches and tools too, lowering the pest and disease risk.
2 Cover your compost heaps so winter rain doesn’t waterlog the mix and chill the microbes. Use a lid, tarp or a weighted sheet of cardboard on open heaps, insulating the sides with bags of dry leaves or straw. Aerate lightly before covering but avoid frequent turning in winter to keep the heat trapped.
3 Put out a shallow wildlife water dish and keep it ice-free. Use a low tray with pebbles for grip, sited near some cover with clear sightlines. Refresh with warm (not hot) water, never adding salt. A floating ball can help delay freezing as temperatures drop.
4 Take the last chance to lift any still tender summer bulbs before hardfrosts set in. For dahlias, gladioli, cannas and fibrous-rooted begonias, label, trim, air-dry, then store in a cool, frost-free place. Keep them in a dry or barely moist medium like vermiculite. Check monthly and make sure that you discard any that rot.
5 Put up a porous windbreak on the windward side to slow cold, drying winds and reduce wind scorch and rocking on brassicas, salads and overwintering alliums. Fix the mesh firmly to posts and keep the lower edge close to the soil to stop wind tunnelling.
Focus on Winter Heather
This month, winter heathers earn their place. Tight cushions of evergreen, needle-like foliage bind the soil, with buds opening from early winter into spring. When borders feel bare, these compact plants deliver dependable colour and some pollen on mild days. Plant while the ground is workable and free-draining. Choose sun or light shade.
A mix of varieties adds interest. For dependable November colour, choose Erica × darleyensis ‘Phoebe’, ‘Ghost Hills’ and ‘White Perfection’. In many gardens, ‘Darley Dale’ starts soon after, carrying colour well into spring. Next use E. × darleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ and Erica carnea ‘December Red’ to drive the main winter flush.
After flowering in spring, lightly shear. Raise any pots on to feet for winter drainage. Low effort, high reward, winter heathers knit edges, suppress weeds and partner well with dwarf conifers, skimmias, hellebores and fine grasses.
Fun fact: Erica × darleyensis arose in Derbyshire, marrying E. carnea toughness with E. erigena showiness for reliable bloom.
Did you know?
In The Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy sleeps in a poppy field, neatly echoing the opium poppy’s Latin name, Papaver somniferum, which means sleep-bringing. The flower’s latex contains narcotic alkaloids long used in sedative medicines, so the literary choice is botanically apt.
Willow bark holds salicin, which our bodies convert to salicylic acid. Chemists later acetylated this to create aspirin, easing irritation while keeping pain-relief benefits. The remedy’s roots are ancient, yet the modern tablet traces back to a simple tree bark extract.
Witch hazel (Hamamelis) flowers in winter, with petals that curl tightly in frost and relax again in milder spells. This reduces damage and helps blooms persist through cold snaps, so shrubs keep their colour and scent. Learn about growing and caring for witch hazel at my YouTube channel, @daviddomoney.
The Victorian fern craze, nicknamed ‘pteridomania’, filled gardens and parlours with ferns, inspiring stumperies staging fronds among upturned roots and weathered logs. The look still thrives in shaded borders where moisture and texture matter.
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