I always seem to struggle to be optimistic about November with its shortening days, lack of plant growth and many shades of grey! I suppose that it is also the thought that winter is to follow and spring seems such a long way away. However, I recently listened an article on the radio about seeing the good features of winter rather than just seeing it out and I am determined to view November in this way too from now on! So, I am going to enjoy the autumn colours until the very last leaf and berry, seeing branch and twig structures which I haven’t seen for many months, admire the contribution that evergreens bring to the cold season garden and take delight in any plants which dare to produce flowers through the coming months. Teresa and I are also going to take the opportunity, before the soil gets too wet and cold, to make a few small changes to the garden by clearing out a couple of areas which have not really been working and replanting them with a mixture of plants we have in pots, some lifted in the clear out or moved from other areas of the garden and, no doubt, a few new additions!
Beauty in fading glories- Hydrangea and Acer
Looking back through past November blogs (all under the heading ‘Monthly Guides) I see that in 2020 I was enjoying the last of the autumn colours in our own garden from bonsai Larch and Beech, to ‘real’ size Cherries, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Cornus kousa, Acer campestre and griseum and last, but definitely not least, our Silver Birch. Of course, much autumn colour also comes from a variety of shrubs and ours included Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, Jasminium nudiflorum and Deutzia. I went on to look at some plants which provide interest through the coming winter months and into early spring and my list included several shrubs and climbers for winter flowers, early flowering bulbs, corms and tubers, trees and shrubs for colourful bark and berries which was followed by a section on the value of evergreens through the winter period. Finally, as you would expect, there was a section on jobs for November including a suggestion to adopt a ’no dig’ approach to your garden. In addition, in 2020 there was a blog on ‘Plants for Difficult Places’ which can still be found under the heading ‘Gardening Tips’. In November 2021 I was enjoying the garden at Aberglasney and seeing the interesting transition from autumn into winter. In 2022 I was looking in more detail at the genus Viburnum in all its variety and beauty, followed by plant area manager Lucy’s five picks for autumn planting- Skimmia, Hamamelis, Callicarpa, Euonymus and Cercis. In November 2023 I returned to the theme of ‘what to do with the more difficult spots in the garden’ with a look at some good plants for hot and dry spots, shady areas and areas exposed to strong winds. In November 2024, as well as highlighting a few plants ‘that I wouldn’t want to be without in November’ I was concentrating on ‘how to get on top of weeds’ using physical methods, mulching the soil and, somewhat reluctantly, using chemical herbicides.
Autumn fruits for us to admire and our feathered friends to eat- Pyracantha and Crab Apple
I’m sure that most gardeners welcome the idea of turning cuttings and clippings from their garden as well as vegetable kitchen waste from their homes into homemade compost. However, I also appreciate that actually converting such material into a black, crumbly and sweet-smelling compost is something that is not all that easy to achieve. For this reason, an article by Tom Brown in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 6th September caught my eye. In it, Tom, a head gardener himself, gave a lot of good tips and answered many of the questions frequently asked by gardeners about compost making. He accepts that making good homemade compost is much more than just piling material up and waiting for nature to work her magic! It is more to do with having the right ingredients, in the right proportions and providing the right environment for the bacteria, fungi, worms, woodlice and slugs to break down the garden and kitchen waste. Without these conditions compost heaps or bins can become smelly and stagnant due to slow, or even non-existent, decomposition and can become a real source of frustration.
In terms of ingredients, Tom’s golden rule is to avoid too much of any one particular component. We’ve all seen this with heaps made up almost entirely of grass cuttings which soon become slimy, smelly and inactive. A healthy and active heap/bin requires a balance between ‘green/leafy’ (nitrogen rich) and ‘brown/woody’ (carbon rich) materials with a good balance being around half of each. ‘Green’ waste includes grass clippings, leaves, annual weeds (before they have seeded), fruit, vegetables, tea leaves and coffee grains. ‘Brown’ waste includes woody prunings, hedge trimmings, paper, cardboard, straw and pet bedding. On the other hand, there are some items of waste which should never go onto a compost heap as they will attract rats or contaminate the compost with unwelcome materials- these include meat, fish, dairy products, cooked food, coal ash (wood ash is compostable but should be used sparingly as when wet it can form a sticky mess), dog and cat poo. Tom also points out that perennial weeds such as bindweed, ground elder and nettles may not always be killed off by the heat in a garden compost heap/bin so, apart from their very soft new growth, they should go into a green recycling bin or be taken to a recycling centre. From there they will go to an industrial composting system which will achieve much higher temperatures which will kill off any unwanted weeds and diseases. This heat, by the way, is given off by bacteria as they work their magic and is a very good sign that the heap is active and working well. Brown/woody material and any large leaves or green trimmings are always best chopped into smaller pieces which will help speed up decomposition. For many gardeners, particularly those with large lawns, there is often more green waste than brown available and in such situations additional brown waste in the form of torn up cardboard from which any plastic tape has been removed is a very good way of keeping the ingredients in balance. In the past compost accelerators or the addition of lime have been recommended but Tom feels that these are of little benefit and getting the right mix is much more important. He also notes that eggshells will decompose eventually but do take a long time so he recommends that if you do want to use them they should be crushed before adding them to the mix.
Having got the right mix, the next important thing is to concentrate on turning and mixing the compost from time to time. This is necessary as decomposition requires a steady supply of oxygen. If the heap becomes too wet or the compost is compressed too much the amount of oxygen will decrease within the heap and decomposition will slow down or even stop. Ideally the compost should be turned several times a year- the more you turn the more oxygen will be introduced which will accelerate decomposition. This is why ‘tumbler’ compost bins can produce compost comparatively quickly. Turning also gives the gardener a chance to assess the level of moisture in the different layers of the compost. Just as over wet material will slow decomposition, so too will a lack of moisture. By turning the compost, wetter and drier areas can be mixed together or water can even be added to very dry sections. Turning the compost is made very much easier if there are two or even three heaps/bins so that as one is emptied and used the contents of a more recent heap/bin can be turned and mixed into the newly emptied one. Turning compost in just one heap/bin is more difficult without emptying the whole thing out, mixing the material well and refilling. If this is not possible, then just frequent mixing and turning the material within the heap/bin with a fork will help to keep the decomposition process active.
One very common question concerning home-made compost is ‘when will it be ready?’. In general most composts can take anything from six months to two years to reach maturity. Larger compost heaps/bins tend to be more efficient and faster acting than small ones but mixing and turning regularly will help to accelerate the process in any sized heap/bin. Compost heaps/bins are always more active in spring and summer than during the cooler months so the time of starting the composting process can also influence the time the whole process takes. In our black plastic compost bins it takes a year to produce useable compost. The compost will be ready to use when it is dark brown, almost black in colour, has a crumbly texture and is sweet-smelling similar to that of a damp, woodland floor. It is then best used as a soil conditioner, surface mulch or as an additive to a potting compost (but not a seed compost as the bacteria and fungi which the compost contains make it unsuitable for seedlings and very young plants). By doing so the compost will be adding plant nutrients, feeding soil microorganisms and increasing the soil’s water holding capacity.
This might all seem to be a lot of bother but, believe me, once you have made some ‘black/brown gold’ of your own you will know that it is one of the most worthwhile gardening jobs that there is.
The ‘engine room’ of the garden and some of our compost ready to be used
Talking about black/brown gold, November might not be the best time to start making compost but it certainly is the best time to make leaf mould which just like homemade compost is recycling waste materials, organic, free and full of good things for our soils and plants. You can either use wire-mesh cages or, as we do, black bin bags and the only effort required is the collection of the leaves from patios, drives, paths and lawns (we tend to leave leaves on beds unless they are smothering plants) with the use of a brush or lawn rake over the next few weeks. Leaves are almost entirely broken down by fungi so they need to be moist but not saturated and the bags need a few drainage holes in the bottom. This process doesn’t generate heat as bacteria are not involved so don’t worry when you find that the bag or heap is not getting warm. Once full the bags just need to be roughly sealed, put somewhere out of the way and given time for nature to work her magic. After a year the leaf mould will be usable as a mulch or soil improver although it won’t be completely broken down and will still have some clearly recognisable remains of leaves to be seen. If left for a second year, however, it really will look like black gold with little, if any, sign of the leaves it came from. In this condition it is perfect for adding to potting composts to give them that natural, organic boost that will keep your plants in good condition. Some leaves are better than others as they contain more chemical elements and/or break down more readily. Oak, for example, is probably one of the best, while Sycamore, of which we have far too many!, are not so good, particularly if just used on their own.
This all brings me on nicely to my final item for this month which comes from the October 2025 edition of the RHS magazine ‘The Garden’- the quite fascinating world of Fungi! In it, amongst other things, the author Dr. Jassy Drakculic shines a light on this mysterious, largely subterranean world and explains why fungi are, in fact, a gardener’s best friend. At first sight though it has to be said that many gardeners are rather suspicious of the evidence of fungi in their gardens and in some cases are positively alarmed by them! We all know that Honey Fungus can cause havoc in any garden but be reassured that this is just one of many thousands of species, the vast majority of which are beneficial rather than terrifying! What we see, of course, are just the fruiting bodies containing spores that might germinate into new fungal individuals and which are very temporary structures, some lasing a little as a few hours. Below them in the soil are the real fungal bodies, often a vast network of microscopic strands called hyphae that branch and then rejoin within the soil. This hidden network of interconnected hyphae- the mycelium- is the main body of the fungus and is incredibly valuable for anyone caring for a garden. For example, many fungi are in the group known as Saprotrophs, which are ‘the recyclers’ that feed on dead material which is exactly what our gardens need to be sustainable. These fungi break down the dead plant material, the leaves in your leaf mould bag for example, releasing nutritional resources into the soil. The fungi use some of these for their own growth processes but leave behind plenty more which can nourish plants, soil animals and microbes alike.
Fungi also help to make our gardens more resilient in the face of a changing climate. A soil full of fungi holds water better in times of drought and absorbs more water when rainfall is high, which helps our plants and also soils by maintaining soil structure and resisting erosion. Not only this, but wood rotted by fungi becomes spongy and porous, creating a protective mulch that shields the soil and roots within it from temperature extremes. Each hyphae is also filled with moisture and fungi can distribute this water through their mycelia and create watery films on their surfaces that help other soil microbial life in several ways.
But the benefits of fungi in our gardens don’t stop there! Gardeners often say- ‘Healthy soil, healthy plants’. Apart from soils obviously providing anchorage, water and nutrients there is an even greater force at work within. Fungi and plants have lived alongside each other for tens of millions of years throughout much of their evolutionary history. The theory is that fungi originally acted as plant roots until the plants evolved their own and that even when this had happened the fungi stayed living within the plant roots providing an additional root system in collaboration with the plants. The modern cousins of these pre-historic root-like fungi are some of the most celebrated fungi in gardening circles- the mycorrhizae or ‘root- helpers’. Their hyphae weave in and around the plant root cells and are fed by sugars which the plants make through photosynthesis, something which the fungi cannot do. In turn, their mycelia scavenge through the soil for large distances searching for water and nutrients which they send back to their plant partners for them to turn into sugars. This is undoubtedly one of nature’s most successful symbiotic partnerships. Put in today’s language- it is a ‘win- win’ for both partners!
Even this isn’t the whole story though, as there is another group of fungi- endophytic fungi, which live inside the leaves, stems, buds, seeds and roots of the plants themselves. The relationship here is less well defined but still very important for plant growth and well- being. Basically, the endophytes work like the microbes in our bodies helping our organs and bodily functions work well. They take up excess sugars from plants and in return aid the plants in a number of ways, for example helping them tolerate stress more effectively and defending themselves better against herbivores or disease-causing microbes.
That’s the science which is fascinating in its own right, but the real message here is that to have a healthy soil with healthy plants we gardeners need to look after the fungi too! Dr. Jassy Drakulic, who works at the mushroom ID department of the RHS Advisory Service (what a job!) recommends five ways of helping fungi help you.
Firstly, he asks us to dig sparingly- how often have I said this? Instead of digging over soils why not let the fungal mycelia (plus the worms of course) do it for you? As the hyphae extend through the soil they help bind soil particles together into crumb structures with air spaces within them as well as air spaces between them and this reduction in compaction is one of the main reasons for physically digging soils. Mycelia, not surprisingly, are very delicate structures and are very badly affected by physical disturbance so Dr. Jassy’s advice is to only dig the soil when creating actual planting holes and no more.
Secondly, recycle what you grow- where have I heard that before? Removing leaf litter and prunings from gardens strip them of the nutritional and microbiological recycling which gives them long term resilience. So, re-use dead plant material by making your own compost and leaf mould and/or build a ‘dead hedge’ ie. layers of cuttings and prunings laid along a boundary- all these will feed the fungi which in turn will feed your plants.
Thirdly, Dr. Jassy suggests using fertilisers sparingly. The over use, particularly of chemical fertilisers makes plants dependent on the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which they contain and deters the plants from forming myccorrhyzal connections which would supply them with the right amounts of nutrition for a lifetime as well as providing the added benefits of protection against pathogens and drought.
Fourthly, he advises reconsidering the use of additional myccorrhyzal fungi in the garden. There is no doubt that for certain plants such as roses the use of additional myccorrhyzal fungi at planting time can be very beneficial especially in areas where roses have been grown previously. However, he argues that there is plenty of local, ‘wild’ fungi present in our garden soils for our plants to form associations with and that the vast majority of plants do not need any extra help. He also worries that adding fungi with a narrow range of genetic diversity might have a negative effect if it displaces wild fungi with its much greater range of diversity.
Finally, Dr. Jassy asks that gardeners do not use fungicides as they never just target the problematic fungi (much like insecticide use) and can harm a whole range of beneficial fungi. He also strongly believes that homemade recipes such as garlic solution or baking soda can decimate whole fungal communities and that no garden problem is worth the damage that treating it might cause.
So, next time you see some fungal fruiting bodies pop their heads up in your garden- rejoice rather than worry and react- it’s a sign that you and your garden are doing well!
That’s all for this month but I will be back at the beginning of December with some more gardening thoughts and suggestions before you all really get into the Christmas spirit!
Until then, keep well and make the best of your November garden as I intend to!
Keith.