Garlic a good choice for November gardening

There is plenty of gardening to do in November. Here are a few ways to spend your time.

You can plant garlic this month and then harvest it in early summer. This bulb is available in many of the retail outlets which carry tulip bulbs.

To start your garlic crop, break apart your garlic bulbs, separating the individual cloves. Set them five inches apart and two inches deep, with the root end pointing down. It is the flatter end of the clove.

Other November plantings can include perennials, shrubbery and trees. Their roots will get established over the winter, and very little watering is needed when you plant them in fall.

Poppy seeds sprout in the cold November soil, and you can expect red flowers in May if you sow corn poppies. You plant them by scattering seeds lightly over freshly cultivated earth. Do not cover them with soil.

The tree leaves falling on your yard could be abundant enough to smother grass and other plants. For this reason, leaf disposal is a priority.

Leaves on grass are recycled into the grass by chopping them up with a lawn mower. If you gather them from your lawn with a rake, blower or other equipment, you can use leaves as mulch and a soil amendment.

Piles of leaves easily become piles of compost to put on your garden. Add grass clippings, dead plants and kitchen scraps to complete the compost recipe and then wait a few months.

The year’s third and final application of lawn fertilizer is put down on fescue, ryegrass and bluegrass this month. Although most lawns need nitrogen only, yours could also need potash and perhaps phosphate.

You can put insecticides, herbicides and other pesticides in storage now, as their time of year is passing. Make sure they are placed where pets and children cannot reach them, with lids closed and labels intact.

Brush killer containing triclopyr remains quite useful, even as winter approaches. It is applied with a small paint brush to the stumps of paradise trees right after you cut them down to kill their roots and prevent sprouts.

The only houseplants needing fertilizer in November are poinsettia and holiday cacti such as Christmas cactus. Use your finger to feel the soil of all houseplants before you water them. Most potted plants prefer to dry out between watering, and they will go dry more often when your home heating system kicks into full gear.

It is time to force bulbs for indoor bloom. This involves potting up amaryllis and setting paperwhite narcissus in shallow pans of moist gravel.

Training for our new Master Gardeners is set to begin on February 2. You can get an application for the 2010 Master Gardener program by calling the Extension Office at 455-3740 or visiting the Hill City Master Gardener Web site at hcmga.com.

Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.