November Garden Guide

Becky_Alton
4 November 2022

With the lowering light levels and increasingly poor weather, access to your garden becomes more and more limited during this time of year, so it’s best to try and grasp opportunities to visit your garden as much as you can. Wrap up warm and bring a flask of tea – this becomes essential at this time of year – and start to do an autumn tidy up, which your soil will love you for come springtime.

Soggy soil

At this time of year although it is cold, the sodden soil is more of a problem. There will still be a lot to harvest from cabbage and kale to beetroot and parsnips, until the frost arrives. The majority of roots are best lifted by the middle of November and stored somewhere cool and dry well away from wet soil.

During this season I always work from wooden boards which I lay down on the beds, as my soil is clay it can be compressed by your feet, which will ruin the soil structure and push out any air.

Bare root

Bare root means when you receive a plant with no soil around the roots. The plant will start to establish a lot quicker than a potted plant that you would traditionally buy in spring. As a bare root is dormant it will be less of a shock to the plant after planting. Local nurseries tend to sell more potted fruit trees/bushes, so I usually look online for bare root plants, there is usually a larger variety available.

When planting bare root in autumn, you’ll be working with moist soil so the plant will have adequate water to survive – but if spring turns out to be a dry one, ensure you keep it well watered. Prompt planting on receiving them is always an advantage but obviously if the ground is unworkable in places, keep the roots in water in a cool place.

(image credit: longfield-gardens.com)

What is crop rotation?

Growing crops in different areas of soil in the veg plot will help reduce soil pests and diseases. The simplest rotation for a small sized plot can be a “four year rotation”.

The easiest way to approach it is by dividing the plot into equal sections and choosing which crops you want to grow, and then grouping them by family. Usual families include legumes (this include peas, broad beans, French and runner beans), brassicas (cabbages, kale, brussels, radish, turnips), alliums (garlic, leeks, shallots and onions) and then potatoes.

Putting it into practice

Each section / family moves a plot forward every year, like in this example:

Year 1

Plot 1 – Legumes
Plot 2 – Brassicas
Plot 3 – Potatoes
Plot 4 – Onions – (include roots on this plot)

Year 2

Plot 1 – Brassicas
Plot 2 – Potatoes
Plot 3 – Onions (roots)
Plot 4 – Legumes

Year 3

Plot 1 – Potatoes
Plot 2 – Onions (roots)
Plot 3 – Legumes
Plot 4 – Brassicas

Year 4

Plot 1 – Onions (roots)
Plot 2 – Legumes
Plot 3 – Brassicas
Plot 4 – Potatoes

Growing rhubarb

Rhubarb can be grown from seed but it’s much easier to buy crowns. Rhubarb can be planted any time from autumn to spring, but it’s best early autumn as it struggles through hot dry months. Prepare the chosen spot by digging in well-rotted manure. When planting make sure the tip of the crown is positioned to be just visible above the soil. Rhubarb prefers a sunny spot but with free draining soil as it dislikes being waterlogged.

At Heligan, we have a couple of heritage varieties – “Penryn” & “Timperley Early”. “ Timperley Early” is a great variety for forcing delicious pink sweet stems as early as February. This variety has been harvested in Britain since the 1700’s and during the wars it was very popular as it was hard to find nutrition through the colder months.

We also have forcing pots positioned next to the rhubarb, which are usually placed over the crowns in late winter, which forces an early harvest in March. The forcing pots block out any sunlight which encourages the plants to grow as early, harvestable food during the “hunger gap”, when there isn’t much else growing. These pots were first constructed in England around 1877 in Yorkshire which was once known for producing 90% of the world’s forced rhubarb due to the perfect conditions.

Other jobs for the plot

With the stormy season coming it’s always a good idea to secure things at your allotment, before the wind picks up. Firstly, stake your brassicas with bamboo cane and twine, as they become heavy with produce. I also like to check over my shed and greenhouse to make sure they feel secure, and I have a good tidy up. Make space for plants that you need to overwinter, but if you don’t have space in your shed, ensure you pop down some horticulture fleece on tender plants to protect them from any frosts that may arrive unannounced.

For autumn sowing of broad beans, prep an area and sow direct around two inches deep and nine inches apart, planted in double rows. The heritage variety sown at Heligan is Aquadulce Claudia which was cultivated around 1937. It is a large, long, podded bean and as it’s hardy, it’s great for autumn sowing.

Last but not least start ordering seed catalogues and make a note of what you would like to grow next year. Having a list will make it easier to be more organised and you’ll know how much space you will have for your crop rotation. Once selected the fun part of buying your seeds can start.

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