In the November Garden
- bardneymanor
- Nov 8, 2023
- 3 min read
As winter is approaching what to do in the garden, and the annual bulb planting begins
As the nights draw in and the garden goes into dormancy for winter, what should you be doing in the garden and also the preparation for spring?
What's been going on in the Garden ?
As many of you are aware its been a slightly strange summer with bouts of flooding and colder summer days. This has left the garden in a state of confusion! We have Marigolds still growing and new buds on the Dahlias! I must admit I do not chop my Dahlias down until 3rd Week of November as they are still flowering and more importantly I keep my eye on the weather and if we have any frosts scheduled.
So with the garden being in a state of it thinking its still late October, I haven't actually done much in the garden this month so far. I'm taking the approach of letting the hardy Perennials die down, and the foliage and leafs are going to be left for winter. As the Gardens are now closed to the public ( apart from a few popup Christmas events and Workshops that have been planned.) So..getting back to leaving the garden alone, this decision was made as I'm aware of the amount of insects and pollinators we've had in the garden this year. So deciding to leave the leafs from the fig tree and laurel etc on the ground will help the insects over winter. By giving them shelter and a home for the colder months. Even though I don't think we are going to have a really cold winter.
The Pelargoniums ( Geraniums ) have been brought into the Conservatory for winter, as hey are not hardy. All the of Hosta's have died back and covered with a layer of mulch, as they are in pots, for winter. Any Perennial's that needed moving have been split and divided whilst the ground is still warm. But however the long Perennial border has been left as this is the area where I am leaving and then will pay attention to it in late February. As lots of spring bulbs were planted in that space last year and will benefit from the extra mulch from the leafs and dead foliage.
Its Now time to plant your Tulip Bulbs !
Planting your Spring Bulbs
So we've talked about what we are not doing in the garden, but stop wait!!
There is still so much more to do as its bulb mania time...
Hopefully you have already got your spring bulbs and are deciding where to plant them in your garden. We have already planted quite a lot of crocus bulbs into some of our lawns for a naturalized look in that area for spring, and before the grass starts to grow.
The daffodils and alliums have been planted into borders and pots for a nice spring display, then mulched for winter time.
We are planting up a really special area of daffodil bulbs this year, but I will let you know more about that later in early Spring!
November is the time when we plant our tulips, now in the past I've put these into the borders. But had a valuable lesson last year as most of the tulips were dug up by muntjac and Squirrels. So this year we are doing a tulip display into pots! With sheep fleece, yes its amazing on top of the bulbs as the visitors to the garden do not like it.
If you would like to know more about where to plant bulbs then take a look at our bulb workshop
New designs in the garden
After the mamouth bulb planting, we can now get down to the real landscaping and shaping the garden for next year. November is the time to do bare root planting i.e. bare root roses.
If you visited the garden last year you will remember seeing the roses from David Austin.
These are being moved this month into a brand new rose walk along with peonies and nepta. Which will be a beautiful scented walk form one area of the garden to another.
Don't forget to come along to our Christmas Pop up shop
as subscribers are welcome to a Free Mulled Wine.
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