Garden Detective: November chores

November is a time to be thankful, to clean and to clear, protect and prepare -- both in the garden and out. Indoor rituals ready home and family for the holidays, and those in the yard ensure a successful growing season next spring. This year I'm thankful for my new butterfly bushes, leaf mulcher, garden sign and jarred tomatoes, but mostly, for family and friends -- and all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Remember, it's illegal to fertilize the lawn in Suffolk from now until April 1. In Nassau you must stop by Nov. 15.

2. You might see your neighbors doing it, but resist the urge to apply new mulch; it's still too early.

3. Pot up crocus, hyacinth and paperwhite bulbs for indoor forcing. Get my step-by-step instructions at newsday.com/lilife

4. Clear leaves from gutters.

5. To avoid wind damage during winter storms, prune weak and broken branches from trees now.

6. Time to "fall back." Set clocks back an hour at 2 a.m.

7. Winterize the koi pond.

8. "Elect" to adjust your pH for spring. Apply lime now if indicated by a soil test, then head for the polls.

9. Rodents will be seeking shelter soon; inspect foundations and crawl spaces for gaps and cracks and repair or fill with steel wool.

10. Loosely wrap arborvitaes and junipers with twine to protect from snow and ice damage.

11. Empty soil from pots and planters onto the compost pile or into garden holes that need filling.

12. Terra-cotta pots will crack if left outdoors over winter. Clean with a 10 percent bleach solution, rinse and store indoors.

13. Make your own mulch for next year by piling up raked leaves (shred oak leaves first so they don't mat) in a corner of the yard.

14. Cut asparagus to the ground and mulch with 2 inches of well-rotted manure.

15. Cut the grass one last time -- shorter than usual, to 1½ inches high and leave clippings on the lawn to enrich the soil naturally with nitrogen.

16. As long as temperatures are above 40 degrees, spray broadleaf evergreens with an antidesiccant to protect them from winter dehydration and windburn.

17. You can still plant evergreens. Be sure to apply mulch, water and protect with burlap.

18. Drain and store hoses, but leave one accessible for watering evergreens during winter dry spells.

19. Sow spinach seeds in the garden and cover with mulch now for an early spring harvest.

20. Keep firewood stored outdoors to avoid bringing pests into the house.

21. Inspect tree trunks and the undersides of branches for gypsy moth egg masses. Scrape the tan-colored blobs off and discard in the trash.

22. Planning a new bed? Make the springtime job easier by covering the area with thick layers of wet newspaper now to smother grass.

23. Wrap fig trees with burlap and tar paper. Never use plastic.

24. Roast the last of the season's bounty -- Brussels sprouts -- on the stalk for a side dish that's also a lovely centerpiece.

25. Rake leaves, and finish your fall cleanup.

26. Turn over cleared vegetable beds to disrupt the life cycles of harmful insects that are getting cozy in the soil.

27. Deadhead flowering houseplants, trim brown foliage and move away from radiators.

28. Prepare a seed bed now so you can easily plant peas in March.

29. You can keep planting spring-flowering bulbs as long as the ground is soft enough to dig.

30. Clear remaining fallen fruit, leaves and debris from around trees to reduce rodent damage over the winter.