Where Have All the Hours Gone?

November 2019

Pickaway to Garden

Where Have All the Hours Gone?

By Paul J. Hang

November gets its name from the Latin word novem which means nine. In the old Romulus calendar November was the ninth month. When the Gregorian calendar added January and February it was bumped to number eleven. By the way, Latin for eleven is undecim. So, voting day could have been the first Tuesday in Undecimber. The fourth Thursday in Undecimber would be Thanksgiving. The Mad Hatter would have loved it.

November has come to signify the nearing of the end, e.g. the end of the year and the end of life. For most gardeners it is the end, or near the end, of the growing year. I am still digging carrots and hoping for lettuce for a Thanksgiving salad. For annual plants it is the end of life. It seems like only yesterday I was starting seeds under lights. In the year, as in life, I wonder, where have all the hours gone?

For gardeners November can be a welcome relief from the chores of gardening. The struggles of preparing the soil, planting seeds and plants, are long forgotten, as well as the sore muscles. Pulling weeds, eliminating pests, watering during dry spells, all these are over. The hours have gone the way of the leaves, falling away, drifting further and further until some are forgotten. We can rake up the leaves but not the hours.

November also brings the end of Daylight Savings Time. Suddenly the sun is sinking much earlier. Darkness quickly catches us off guard. Where did that hour go? I know, we got to sleep in an extra hour on a Sunday morning. Animals and Plants didn’t notice, unless the dog got fed “late.” But we noticed. Did that extra hour make up for the one we lost last spring? Where did that hour go?

The first snow fall is usually in November. As the month progresses winter should become more apparent with leafless trees looking bare and stark against a gray sky. Flower beds look forlorn and frigid. The lawn is frosted snowy white. Spring is a long way off. But when it arrives, we will ask, where have all the hours gone, long time passing?

Things to do in the garden:

Now is a good time to do soil tests. You have time to amend your soil if required (3 to 6 months). You will avoid the spring rush when more people are sending their samples to the lab. To obtain soil sampling instructions and kits along with specific recommendations contact the local Cooperative Extension Office.

It’s not too late to plant spring flowering bulbs. Spring bulbs look best in a cluster. Try excavating an area rather than planting them one by one in a single small hole. Lift tender bulbs (caladiums, dahlias, glads etc.) and store for the winter. Sow seeds of hardy annuals (calendula, bachelor’s buttons). Mums can be “tidied up” but don’t trim back until spring.

Tender roses should be “hilled up,” mound the soil a foot deep around the base to protect the crowns. Also a wire cage filled with leaves surrounding them as mulch can add protection. Final pruning should be done in the spring, but long spindly canes can be trimmed off now. Climbing roses or ramblers should be tied to prevent injury from being whipped around by harsh winter winds. Do not feed. Clean up all dead and diseased rose leaves and put in the trash.

A fall fertilization of your lawn can be done now. Do not allow leaves to form a matted layer. Rake and compost heavy layers of leaves, otherwise chop them up with passes of the mower to return to the soil as nutrients. Running the mower over the rows at right angles a couple times will reduce them to half inch pieces which earth worms will pull into the soil. The latest recommendation is to continue to cut your lawn at 2.5-3 inches as long as it continues to grow.  This seems to work better than cutting it short for the “last time” of the season. Run the gas out of your lawn and garden machinery or add gas stabilizer.

Make sure leaves and mulch are not heaped against the trunks of trees. Bring the mulch a foot away from the trunks of all trees. You may also want to stake newly planted trees from the winds of winter and early spring storms. Generally new trees more than 2” diameter don’t need staking. Consult ohioline.osu.edu for staking and other gardening information. Evergreens and shrubs should be watered deeply. Apply an anti-desiccant to broadleaf evergreens. Wait until late winter to do any normal pruning. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs (lilac, forsythia, spirea etc.) if you want them to bloom this spring.

Take stock by taking notes and map your garden while you can still remember where the plants were. This is particularly important for the vegetable garden. Clean your gardening tools and put them away. A coat of oil can prevent rust. A light coating of linseed oil on wooden handles prevents splitting due to weathering and drying. Drain garden hoses and store. At the very least disconnect from the outdoor spigots. Make sure underground irrigation lines are drained or blown dry with a compressor.

Remove the dead plants from containers and, if not diseased, compost. Unglazed terracotta pots must be stored indoors or they will be destroyed. No procrastinating here. Synthetic containers can be left outdoors. Stop or reduce fertilizing indoor plants. Weed the vegetable garden and compost non-diseased debris. Remove stakes and cages, clean and store. Place diseased materials in the trash. Plant a cover crop. Consider leaving the stems and seed heads of perennials. Nature is not compelled to neatness. Rather she leaves cover for pollinators and butterflies to overwinter themselves or their pupae and eggs. You can clean up in the spring. Pull out dead annuals and, if not diseased, compost them. Now your beds are tucked in and settled down for a long winter’s nap.