Gardening In November Edith Iwan

Gardening in November

The garden begins its long winter nap just in time for you to prepare for the Holidays.

If you have young trees or shrubs, now is time to protect them from sunscald injury. This occurs in winter when the southwest exposed trunk of a young tree is exposed to wide temperature swings. The bark of many young trees is very thin and the living layer of bark, the phloem, is killed by the repeated freezing at night at the heating up during the day. The damage weakens the tree and is unsightly. At the tree ages, the bark thickens and is less susceptible to the winter temperature swings.

There are several ways to protect the tree trunk by reducing the excessive heating from the sun during the day. The trunk and large branches with southwest exposure can be wrapped with white flexible tape or plastic tube wrap. The wrap or tube needs to be removed in the spring after the last frost and reapplied in the fall. You can also paint the trunk with white, indoor latex paint (outdoor has additives that are harmful to trees). It can be diluted with 1:1 with water and leaves the trunk white which may not be pleasing to the eye. I did not receive any instructions about sunscald and as a result have a very disfigured tree. Below is a picture of a Golden Raintree (Koelreuteria paniculate) I bought at an Albuquerque nursery over 10 years ago.

OTHER THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH ARE:

• Containers in a sunny and sheltered area can be planted with pansies or ornamental kale. Water weekly if daytime temperatures are above freezing. Keep a protective cover handy to throw over the pots if temperatures dip into the single digits and you can enjoy color in your garden all winter. • If you use manure, now is the time to put it on your lawn and garden. Manure is salty, our soil is salty, and our water is salty. If manure is applied in the fall, there is time for the salt to leach through the soil so it will not harm your plants in the spring. • Prune shade trees if needed and begin to prune evergreens. Use the greenery to decorate your house for the Holidays. • Use dried leaves in your compost pile, to cover your perennials from drying out if there is no snow cover in the winter. If you have space, save some bags of leaves to mix with grass clippings for next spring’s compost.

Check out the things to do in Gallup this month for the Floral Design workshop being offered by the County Cooperative Extension service and the Master Gardeners.

Edith Iwan is a Cibola-McKinley County Master Gardener who lives and works in Thoreau. As a Master Gardener she assists the County Cooperative Extension Service in providing accurate, research-based gardening information to county residents. If you have any gardening questions, please call the NMSU Cibola County Extension at 505-287-9266 or NMSU McKinley County Extension at 505-863-3432.