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Plant bulbs in November to prevent tulip fire

Top three jobs for November

Plant tulips

Plant them now and you’ll reduce the risk of tulip fire, which can cause distorted foliage, fuzzy mould and flowers that fail to open.

Tulips look best when planted en masse. They like a free-draining, fertile soil, so if yours is heavy, add some grit to the planting hole.

Plant them at two to three times their own depth, 10cm apart, and choose a mix of early- and late-flowering varieties for flowers from March to May.

Plant trees and shrubs

Late November and early December is the traditional time for planting hardy shrubs and trees.

Before planting clear away any perennial weeds such as dandelions and bindweed, removing all their roots. 

Keep lawns clear of leaves with a blower/vac if raking is too strenuous

Now is also the ideal time to plant a hedge using bare-rooted plants. 

Prepare the ground by digging a trench to one spade’s depth and make sure the plants are at the same depth as they were before – you should be able to see a soil mark on the stem.

Planting a staggered double row will create a thick hedge quickly.

Collect autumn leaves

Clear them from lawns, paths, gravel, gutters and drain grills. A blower vac will save time if you have large areas to tidy.

Don’t worry about clearing leaves from flower borders unless they’re diseased or are covering plants that are vulnerable to the wet, such as succulents and those with grey, woolly leaves.

Compost disease-free leaves or use them to make leaf mould (put them into dustbin bags with holes in them – the rotting process may take two years but the result is worth the wait). See our guide to making compost for more information.