Tom’s Timely Tips For November

•  Clean up rose beds.  Be sure all diseased leaves are raked up and disposed.

•  Inspect trees and shrubs for bagworm capsules.  Remove and destroy them to reduce next year’s pest population.

•  Fertilize trees and shrubs before the ground freezes so that food is available to plants in early spring.

•  Bring the garden hose indoors during winter.  Once cold, plastic hoses are easily cracked or broken when coiled.  Don’t coil them outdoors; rather, bring them inside and allow them to warm to room temperature before coiling.

•  If you’re planning to have a live tree this Christmas, dig the transplant hole now while the soil is not frozen.  Move the back fill into your garage or basement, and fill the hole with mulch to keep the surrounding soil unfrozen.

•  Don’t cut off tops of perennials until they have dried (usually late winter).

•  Water trees, shrubs and foundation plantings thoroughly before ground freezes.

•  To protect young trees from rodents, use sleeves made from wire mesh or plastic tubing securely fastened around the trunk.

•  Be sure not to store apples or pears with vegetables.  The fruits give off ethylene gas which speeds up the breakdown of vegetables and will cause them to develop off flavors.

•  Clean power tools of all plant material and dirt.  Replace worn spark plugs, oil all necessary parts, and sharpen blades.  Store all tools in their proper place indoors, never outdoors where they will rust over the winter.

•  Give houseplants as much light as possible as lower light days begin.

•  Continue to let up on fertilizing indoor plants until spring.

•  Provide houseplants with increased humidity; mist often or place plants over a tray of moist pebbles.

•  Pot up prepared bubs for indoor forcing.

•  Begin to increase the time between waterings but do not cut back on the amount of water.

•  Amaryllis bulbs may not bloom if they are in too large a pot.  There should be no more than one inch of space on each side of the bulb.  At least one third of the bulb should be above the soil line.

•  Plant paper-white narcissus in stones in a bulb pan in early November to have blooms by Christmas time.

•  African violets require a day temperature of 70°F and a night temperature of 65°F.  They may die if the air temperature dips below 55°F.  African violets do well under fluorescent lights 12 to 14 hours a day; lights should be 8 to 12 inches from the plant.