NOVEMBER


WEEK 1: Fall planting season is here. Plant shrubs, trees, vines and perennials now through Christmas.  Roots establish and grow better in fall than spring. Many deciduous plants are on sale during this season.

WEEK 2:  If you haven’t pruned your blue mophead hydrangeas yet, don’t. They are best pruned in late winter/early spring. Taller rose canes should be pruned so they don’t thrash in the wind and get damaged.

WEEK 3:   Plan for a spring extravaganza of peony poppies and bachelor buttons, both annuals, by spreading their seeds in a sunny location now. A gardening rarity; something beautiful, easy and cheap.

WEEK 4:  Keep up with removing falling leaves. They can kill a lawn if not removed and will attract insects to the base of desirable shrubs.  Your County Extension Web site has a list of the best fruit trees to be planted now.

SHRUBS:  Camellia sasanqua’s bloom now through late December. Their colors range from white, pink or pink-red with showy golden stamens, and their leaves, evergreen, are a deep green. Fragrance is slight, but the blooms are very attractive to honeybees. Buds on Pieris, similar to a string of pearls, are swelling now in preparation for their late winter bloom. 

TREES:  Crepe myrtle “Natchez” has finally lost its leaves, showing off the stunning cinnamon and dark vanilla bark. Birds are flocking to its seedpods and are much easier to see.

BULBS: Plant late winter and spring blooming bulbs now. Daffodils, spring bloomers, are showy and deer resistant. Crocus, small in stature but showy, bloom in late winter. Tulips don’t do well in our area and are best treated as annuals.

VEGETABLES:  Plant a cover crop of clover if you aren’t growing vegetables this season. It protects the soil and provides nutrients when it’s tilled into the soil in spring.

BERRIES:  Good to look at and great for the birds to eat. Consider Viburnum dilatatum “Iroquois”, full of bright red berries so thick the branches will sag. Iroquois must have a second Viburnum planted nearby for berries to form. Choose its close cultivar, “Erie” or V. wrightii –  both have great berry set also.

IN COLOR NOW:  Camellia sasanqua, sourwood tree, fragrant tea olive, rose, chrysanthemum “Ryan’s Pink”,  abelia, red bud foliage, burning bush and the foliage of witchhazel.

INSECTS:  Honeybees are still active at blossoms, butterflies will be out on warm days and hopefully all the mosquitoes are dead.

WILDLIFE:  Remember to keep a consistent supply of water for the birds and the few butterflies and honeybees still active.

GARDEN BOOK:  Beautiful By Design, by Tara Dillard. Never be stuck planning your garden again. This book is about axis in the garden. Axes are lines of view from the windows in your home, where every landscape design should begin. With beautiful photography, color drawings and great how-to ideas you can master quickly the concept of where to place focal points in your landscape.


DECEMBER


WEEK 1:  Fescue sod can be planted this week but not much later.  Fescue lawns should be fertilized.  Continue planting shrubs, trees, vines and perennials through Christmas.  Existing plantings can be transplanted all winter.

WEEK 2:  Fallen leaves can be used as mulch if they are shredded otherwise they promote decay and death of your desirable plantings.  Remove decaying fruit or vegetables that are left in your garden they can spread disease.

WEEK 3:  Winter annuals, such as pansies and violas, should be fertilized every couple of weeks with Miracle-Gro.  Bermuda sod can be planted now, be sure it is watered properly all winter.  Wood ashes can be placed in your compost pile.

WEEK 4:  Water new shrubs and trees, 1-2 times/week for several weeks, until established.  Continue deadheading perennials but don’t cut them to the ground unless new foliage has appeared at their base. 


SHRUBS:  Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs now, wait until they bloom next year.  Camellia japonica’s begin blooming at the end of this month and will remain in bloom until April.

TREES:  The peeling bark of the paperbark maple, Acer griseum, is a beautiful winter feature.  Contorted Filbert, sometimes called Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick, having lost all of its leaves, is now in swirling, curling, grooving and crazy glory.  Seriously, how can you survive another winter without this tree?

BULBS:  No it’s not too late, continue planting winter and spring blooming bulbs.

PRUNING:  Crepe myrtle trees can be pruned to shape but should never be cut off entirely at mid-height. 

SEEDS:  If you’ve already bought the seed packets for next years annuals, they can still be spread.

VEGETABLES:  If you aren’t growing vegetables this season and not using a cover crop add organic material and cover with mulch.  With little effort you will be improving next years crops.

IN COLOR NOW:  Nandina, camellia, Crepe myrtle ‘Natchez’ bark, fragrant tea olive, rosemary, pieris and daphne buds.

NSECTS:  Butterflies and honeybees are active on warm days.

BIRDS:  Many birds are ignoring feeders and heading straight to nature’s bounty of holly berries, hackberries, dogwood berries, mistletoe, hawthorn and possum haw.

GARDEN BOOK:  Best Garden Plants For Georgia, by Tara Dillard.  Three hundred plants for Georgia gardens are included.  You’ll find trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vines, roses, bulbs, herbs, grasses and ferns.  Each plant is beautifully photographed with cultural requirements and quirks.  If you aren’t sure of what to plant in your garden let this book be your guide.

Tara Dillard hosted her own TV show on CBS and has been designing gardens for 20 years. She’s author of The Garden View, Beautiful By Design and other garden books. Tara is a motivational garden lecturer nationally and locally at corporate and garden venues.
Visit Tara at www.taradillard.com