November
The dark quarter of the year begins in November, and so, most years, does the rainy season. An average of 10% of our rainfall falls in November. Temperatures can be cold this month with a freeze possible. Fall color is at its peak.
Fall Color
Yes, you can find fall color in
California. The Goldenrain tree or Koelreuteria paniculata
shown at the top of the page has rusty red husks that last for many
weeks in the fall. Many other trees and shrubs put on a great display
with colorful leaves or fruit.
Hawthorn or Crataegus comes in many species and is adapted to zones 8
and 9. It is a member of the pome tribe of the rose family. The fruits
resemble tiny apples. Many plants are covered with red or black
'berries' now.
If you're lucky enough to have a good mulching mower, you'll
appreciate its value this time of year. I use a Toro Commercial
Recycler with a special mulching blade. The blade has sharpened fins
that lift the clippings and shred them at the same time. These blades
are available for many mowers. I can mow a lawn covered with sycamore
aand liquidambar leaves, and the leaves virtually disappear. I may
have to go over the lawn two times if the leaves are very thick, but
it's worth it. I have no bags of leaves to tie up and send to the
landfill.
Mow and Mulch
The fall planting season is coming to a close, and the rainiest months
will soon be upon us. Finish up your fall planting now.
There's Still Time to Plant
Select landscape trees now while they are showing fall color. Choose Liquidambar, Chinese Pistache and Ginko biloba. If you want colorful flowers this month, shop for sasanqua camellias, bushy plants with small but profuse flowers.
Plant those tulip and hyacinth bulbs that you put in the refrigerator 6 to 8 weeks ago. Plant in drifts of a dozen or two bulbs with the same color flower for best effect. Add some superphosphate to the soil beneath the bulb as you plant.
Plant wildflower seeds. Prepare the ground by cultivating and raking. Scatter the seeds, rake to thinly cover and water them in. Plant native shrubs too - manzanita, toyon, ceanothus, coffeeberry.
Buy chrysanthemums in all the fall colors now. Cut them down to a few
inches from the ground when they finish flowering. They will begin to
grow again next March. Mums will bloom in July. Let them bloom
lightly; then shear them back for the main bloom in the fall.
Harvest Figs
Why not try fig jam? Cut up the figs and boil with some water, honey,
lemon juice and peel. You can't beat fig trees. They are beautiful,
easy to grow, and take any amount of pruning. Easily available are
Black Mission and Brown Turkey, which do well all over the state. If
you want a white flesh, choose Genoa at the coast and Kadota inland.
Keep on top of raking and cleanup until leaf fall is over. Be sure to
clean up under fruit trees. Fallen leaves and dead fruit can harbor
insect eggs and fungus spores over the winter.
Fall Chores
If your peach or nectarine had leaf curl this year, spray it with lime sulfur or fixed copper at full leaf fall. Use a copper spray that contains 50% fixed copper. Weaker sprays are ineffective.
Water needs are low this month, but if rainfall is light, your flowers and vegetables and all new plantings will need watering. Open watering basins around plants if you have slow draining clay soil.
Thin out evergreen trees so that the strong winds that come with our winter storms will blow through them more easily.
Be sure to fertilize lawns at the end of November, before the coldest days of winter. Use a complete lawn fertilizer rather than a nitrogen-only product. This will give your lawn the best chance of staying green all winter. Of course, during very cold winters, lawns will not remain bright green. But our winters are short; we can look forward to green lawns again as early as February.
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© 1997 by Jim Clatfelter
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