Garden Detective: November chores

Gardening chores don't wind down in November; they evolve. Instead of spending time weeding and harvesting, focus on cleaning and clearing, protecting and preparing. These tasks are just as important as those that consumed our warmer days as we work now to ensure a successful new season just around the corner.

1. If you are a Suffolk resident or landscaper, it's illegal to apply fertilizer from now until April 1. In Nassau you must stop by Nov. 15.

2. To force paperwhites for holiday blooms, pot bulbs up now. Get my step-by-step instructions at newsday.com/lilife.

3. Resist the urge to apply new mulch; it's still too early.

4. To avoid damage from winter winds, prune weak and broken branches from trees.

5. Inspect foundations and crawl spaces for gaps and cracks and repair or fill with steel wool to keep rodents from entering the house.

6. Wrap juniper and arborvitae branches loosely with twine to protect from snow and ice damage.

7. It's time to "fall back": Resume standard time at 2 a.m. by setting clocks back one hour.

8. Winterize the koi pond.

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

10. Clean clay pots with a 10 percent bleach solution, rinse and store indoors to keep them from cracking over the winter.

11. 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.

12. Cut asparagus to the ground and mulch 2 inches deep with well-rotted manure.

13. Cut the grass one last time - shorter than usual, to 11/2inches. Leave clippings on the lawn.

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

15. Plant evergreens; mulch, water and protect with burlap.

16. Store firewood outside to avoid bringing pests into your home.

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

18. Sow spinach seeds outdoors and mulch for an early spring harvest.

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

20. Pot up parsley and chives and set on a sunny windowsill.

21. If you're planning a new bed for spring, cover the area with thick layers of wet newspaper and cardboard to smother the grass.

22. Deadhead flowering houseplants and trim brown foliage.

23. Rake leaves, and complete your fall cleanup. Never allow leaves to remain on pavement; they'll muck up the groundwater.

24. Harvest Brussels sprouts.

25. Celebrate your harvest, roast those Brussels sprouts and have a happy Thanksgiving!

26. Clear gutters of leaves and debris.

27. Turn over vegetable beds to disrupt the life cycles of harmful insects in the soil.

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

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

30. Continue to plant bulbs as long as the ground isn't frozen.