Gardening in November
Autumn bedding plants
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This is a great month to keep the colour going in your garden, that will last into winter with cold hardy plants. Plant up cyclamens, pansies, violas, heucheras, bellis, and primroses, and remember that these plants will grow just as well in pots or hanging baskets as in beds in your garden. You can get heucheras in beautiful autumn brown colours.
Pot of the month
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Nandinas are a family of plants that will look good in a pot all year round, with their delicate green foliage, that turns into rich reds and oranges in autumn and winter. Many of them have red berries in winter, that are a favourite of birds. Plant some red/brown pansies to go with them. You need a decent sized pot – put a few stones over the drainage hole so it doesn’t block up, then fill with compost, with a few handfuls of topsoil mixed in.
November is a good month to do bulbs in a pot – you can plant several different bulbs for a long lasting effect. Always plant bulbs point side up. Plant a packet of daffodils at the bottom, a few cms apart – 25cm deep – cover with 5cm of compost, then plant a packet of tulips, a few cms apart again, making sure not to plant directly above the daffodils. Cover with 10cm of compost, then plant a packet of snowdrops, and cover with 5cm of compost. You can plant some pansies in the pot so it looks good until the bulbs emerge. The snowdrops will be first in January, followed by the daffodils in February, and the tulips in April.
Perennials
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Euphorbia characias Silver Swan is an easy plant to grow, in full sun or part shade. It’s an evergreen plant whose variegated leaves add a splash of colour all year round, and really come into their own in autumn and winter
Shrubs
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Viburnum tinus Eve Price is an evergreen plant with dark glossy foliage. In autumn it gets an abundance of creamy white/pink flowers, that are very useful to bees at this time of year. The flowers are followed blue black berries, which are a favourite of birds. They do well in full sun or light shade. They can grow to height and width of 2m in time, so give them plenty of space. You can also keep them smaller with pruning.
Fruit and Vegetables
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Plant up bare rooted fruit trees this month – try apples and pears, in the ground or a large pot, for fruit next autumn. Plant two different varieties of both to ensure they are pollinated. If you are planting in a pot, go for a dwarf variety.