Gardening Hints & Tips – November & December 2025

November 3, 2025| Previous Issue, Gardening Hints & Tips

November & December 2025

Worplesdon Garden Club is a friendly and enthusiastic club which meets every second Tuesday of the month from 8-10pm in the Old Church, Emmanuel Parish Centre, Stoughton, Guildford, GU2 9SJ with doors open from 7.45pm.

For more information on Worplesdon Garden Club contact Tim Bonnert on 01483 237702

About Worplesdon Garden Club

Membership is only £15 for the year from January and includes a full schedule of speakers throughout the year, plus a range of social events including Garden Visits, Lunches, Barbecues, and Horticultural Shows. Please see the club website, www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, for more details. Visitors (£3) and new members are always welcome.

For more information on Worplesdon Garden Club contact Tim Bonnert on 01483 237702, info@worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, or visit www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk where you can read our latest Club Newsletter – www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk/newsletters

Club News:

Tuesday 11th November, 8.00pm
Club Meeting in November
Simon Horrill – ‘Colour in the Garden’

Tuesday 9th December, 8.00pm
Club Meeting in December
Christmas Social Evening

Gardening hints and tips for November and December

Cold nights and frosts will be making an appearance soon so this the last chance to protect any tender perennials by moving to a sheltered spot or by applying a thick mulch of compost.
It is important to gather up leaves regularly – fallen leaves will smother lawns and small plants and will become a dangerous slip hazard on paths.
Collect leaves into their own bag or leaf bin and leave for about a year to decompose into beautiful leaf mould. This can then be used as a mulch for those tender plants next Autumn, or as a general soil improver.
Carefully lift any remaining dahlia and begonia tubers, trim off the dead foliage, label, then store in dry sand, compost, or sawdust in a cool, frost-free place. Alternatively, apply a thick layer of mulch over the plants in situ to protect the tubers from deep frosts over the winter.
Plant out any last remaining winter bedding.
Now a good time to sow sweet peas for an early show next summer.
Plant Narcissi and tulip bulbs. Tulips are often quite short lived and can do better in pots or tubs. Pots are also easier to move to a different location after flowering to allow the leaves to die down naturally. Plant bulbs in a hole 2-3 times the height of the bulb.
If you’re buying a Poinsettia, remember that they don’t like draughts or being overwatered. Give them lots of light during the day and don’t trap them behind a curtain on a cold windowsill overnight or they will drop all their leaves.
Tie in wall trained shrubs and climbers to prevent wind damage and lightly prune shrub roses to reduce root damage by wind-rock where top-heavy plants are pulled out the ground by the wind over
the winter months. Roses will be pruned again in late winter, so
don’t be too harsh now.

Whilst it’s harder to be motivated to get out in the garden when the days are so short and it’s cold and damp, doing a bit of work on the brighter days will pay dividends next year.

Start to prune and maintain most deciduous trees and shrubs – the main exceptions being evergreens or early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia, and cherries, plums and other stone fruit which should be pruned in the summer.
Bare rooted roses, shrubs, hedging, and some trees can also be planted now through to end of February. Bare-rooted plants without a pot or soil are a very cost-effective way to buy new plants.
Avoid walking on frost-covered grass to prevent damage and the appearance of brown patches.
Harvest and enjoy root crops and brassicas from the vegetable garden. A frost on parsnips will help turn more of the starches in the roots into sugars, making them even sweeter.
Stop watering any succulents or cacti and reduce watering of most houseplants – with the light levels being very low, the plants will not be growing and will not need regular watering.
Tidy perennial grasses and bamboos and continue to clear the top stems of faded perennials where appropriate or leave as over-wintering habitats for beneficial insects.
Whilst it’s harder to be motivated to get out in the garden when the days are so short and it’s cold and damp, doing a bit of work on the brighter days will pay dividends next year.