   November Gardening - November 5, 2003 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Fall is certainly in the air. The memory of summer heat is still fresh enough in our minds to appreciate the cooler weather. November average maximum and minimum temperatures are 65.8 and 35.6 degrees F respectively (1971-2000 data from Tuzigoot National Monument). We live in a great gardening climate and there is plenty we can do to enhance and strengthen our gardens through fall and into winter. Remember to irrigate your landscape plants and fruit trees. November average rainfall is only 0.81 inches in the Cottonwood/Clarkdale area and 1.48 inches in Sedona area (1971-2000 data). You can decrease the scheduled times of irrigation because evaporative demand has decreased as temperatures have cooled down. It is especially important to irrigate landscape evergreens to maintain vigor and reduce likelihood of pest problems (i.e. cypress bark beetles). Clean up your vegetable garden and or annual flower beds. Compost the healthy plant residue. If you don’t have a compost pile, then consider starting one. Remember not to compost diseased plants (i.e. powdery mildew on squash and other cucurbits). It is not too late to plant some cool season crops such as lettuce, kale, and other leafy vegetables. If you are not planning to have a fall/winter garden, then consider planting a cover crop such as annual rye, oats, barley, or hairy vetch. Cool season annual flowers can be planted too. For annual flowers and vegetables, prepare soil by digging in lots of composted organic matter mixed with a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer, then place phosphorus fertilizer near the root zone. Some ideas for cool season flowers are pansies, dianthus, snapdragons, sweet alyssum, poppies, stock, and sweet peas. If you have any cool season turf (fescue, bluegrass, or ryegrass), you can fertilize it with one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. Remember one pound of nitrogen fertilizer does not equal one pound of nitrogen applied. Ammonium sulfate is 21% nitrogen and in order to apply one pound of nitrogen, you must apply about 5 pounds of ammonium sulfate. If you find this confusing, then you may want to simply follow the instructions on the fertilizer bag. Apply turf fertilizers evenly so that you do not concentrate it in any one area. This can “burn” the turf. November is a good time to plant frost hardy native and drought-adapted landscape plants such as evergreens, Texas ranger, Texas mountain laurel, globe mallow, jojoba, acacia, and mesquite. Remember to use the improved planting standard. Dig a wide, shallow planting hole (only as deep as the container). Put no soil amendments into the soil. Remove the nursery stake. Plant in hole and install new planting stakes only if necessary, mulch the soil surface with chips or other suitable material, and irrigate. For a publication that details the improved planting standard, go to your local Cooperative Extension office or download it from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences web site at: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1022.pdf. Get a jump on cool season weeds by mulching or using a pre-emergent herbicide. If your area received substantial summer rain, then these weeds may already be germinated. Once weeds germinate, pre-emergent herbicides are not effective. Mulches should be at least three inches deep. Attractive mulches are wood chips and bark, but these can be expensive. Landscape fabrics are effective but also expensive. Straw will probably have weed seeds in it. Newspaper and cardboard work well in less visible areas protected from wind. Rock mulches work well, but weeds will eventually pop through. Plastic mulches are not recommended for landscapes, but can work well for vegetable gardens. Mulching is also a good soil protecting and water conserving practice. Enjoy the fall weather and garden in good health. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on gardening and pest control. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 ext. 14 or E-mail us at mgardener@verdeonline.com and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |