By Scott Canning, Director of Horticulture

Cutleaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Laciniata’) in fall color. Photo by Janice Tucker.

Come November, most gardeners don’t want to think about gardening anymore.  They want to retreat from the never-ending chores of the growing season.  But a little effort at the end of the season can make next year even more rewarding.  Here are a few tips about things to do before winter sets in that will help make next year your best gardening year ever.

  • Think about your water systems –  Now is the time to winterize your irrigation system (shut it off, blow out the water, drain and store unneeded watering equipment)
  • Stay prepared to water your garden if we have a dry winter – especially your newly planted plants.  With non-xeric new plants, water as often as every two weeks if snow-free
  • Continue weeding – even if it’s just cutting off seed heads
  • Keep cleaning – Annual fall clean up should have you taking your leaves to the compost pile, unless the material is diseased.  This also helps deter rodents.
  • Leave some wildlife friendly plants standing, such as sunflowers and cone flowers, which can feed birds
  • Take notes now about what worked this year in your garden and what didn’t
  • Record where you planted your veggies in the garden so that you can plant them elsewhere next year for crop rotation purposes
  • Light pruning is alright but no heavy pruning nor fertilizing (except for caned roses so that they don’t whip in the wind)
  • Don’t fret when you see your conifers browning and dropping needles!  November is their time to do just that.
  • Apply compost to vegetable beds after you clean them up so that you don’t have to do it in the busy spring time
  • Finish collecting seeds
  • Finish planting bulbs – it’s alright to do this before the ground freezes.  General rule is to do it before Thanksgiving

Scott Canning, Horticulture and Special Projects Director, [email protected]

Scott has worked in botanical gardens since 1989. He worked at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in sales and marketing from 1989 until 1992, when he moved to Albuquerque to take over a small landscaping business from a friend.  He worked at the Albuquerque location of Plants of the Southwest, too, until 1994 when he moved back to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden as a curator of the greenhouses. He specialized in Mediterranean-climate plants of the world. In 1998 he became the rosarian for the BBG’s Cranford Rose Garden, comprising more than 5,000 plants of some 1,500 varieties of rose. In 2001 he moved to Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Scott was Director of Horticulture there for 13 years before making his dream come true; moving back to New Mexico. He became the Horticulture and Special Projects Director for the Santa Fe Botanical Garden in April 2014.