Your October / November Gardening To-Do List
Fall is such a beautiful season in the garden, y’all. The air turns crisp, leaves turn their brilliant hues, and everything seems to slow down just a bit. It’s the perfect time to pause, take stock of what thrived this year, and give your garden a little extra love before winter sets in. With a few thoughtful tasks now, you’ll set yourself up for a gorgeous, healthy start come spring.
Here is your October and November Gardening To-Do List.
October Gardening To-Do List
Tidy and Transition
Cut back tired annuals and perennials that have finished blooming, but leave ornamental grasses and seed heads for winter interest.
Collect seeds from zinnias and echinacea to replant next spring. Store them in a brown paper sack in a cool spot until you’re ready to plant next year.
Rake or blow fallen leaves and add them to your compost pile or use them as mulch around shrubs and perennials.
Refresh mulch in your beds to protect roots as cooler weather arrives.
Plant for Next Spring
Plant spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths. Click here to read my Bulb Planting 101 Guide for everything you need to know.
Add cool-season annuals to flower beds and containers, such as pansies, violas, and ornamental kale. They’ll carry your beds through winter with color and texture.
Replant containers with cool season combinations that will carry them all the way through the holidays and beyond. Get lots of ideas for Holiday Container Recipes here.
Divide and transplant perennials while the soil is still warm — hostas, daylilies, and iris love this fall refresh and extra room to spread out.
Prep for Cold Weather
Bring tender plants indoors, like ferns, citrus and tropicals, before the first frost.
Check irrigation systems and drain hoses before freezing temps hit. Run every zone and make sure there are no leaks that can cause pipes to burst.
Cover soil in empty beds with mulch or a cover crop to prevent erosion and add nutrients.
November Gardening To-Do List
Protect and Prepare
Wrap or cover tender shrubs (like gardenias or camellias) on cold nights with a frost cloth or burlap. Find my favorite Frost Cloth for shrubs here!
Mulch trees and shrubs with a thick layer of pine straw or shredded bark to keep roots insulated.
Unhook all hose pipes and invest in faucet covers to protect pipes from freezing in the coming winter months.
Read my guide for How to Protect Plants in Winter and prepare accordingly!
Plant for Winter Interest
Add evergreen shrubs like boxwoods, hollies, and dwarf magnolias for structure and color through the colder months.
Plant paperwhites or amaryllis bulbs indoors for holiday blooms. Amaryllis also make excellent Christmas gifts! Click here to see my favorite way to give them as a hostess gift!!
Force tulips or hyacinths in containers for early spring cheer.
Take Time to Enjoy
Decorate with natural elements — pumpkins, gourds, and foraged branches make beautiful, simple porch displays.
Walk your garden and take notes. What thrived this year? What needs moving or changing for next season?
Give thanks for the beauty your garden brought you this year — and rest knowing it’s quietly preparing for spring.
Complete a few simple tasks now and your garden will thank you come spring! If you need a space to write down your own to-do lists, my free monthly gardening checklists can help make sure you don’t miss a thing along the way. Download here, print them out, keep them by your potting bench, and let’s grow together all year long.
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