Timely Tips

What to Do in November 2025
Weekly Gardening Timely Tips from
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County

Nov. 2 to 8

Perennials: Put up bird feeders in the garden now and keep them filled. Birds also like a source of unfrozen drinking water. After ground-feeding birds have had their share, remove fallen seed daily to discourage diseases, mice, and other unwanted visitors. Clean feeders on a two week intervals, or more often if they become dirty with heavy use. Use window treatments on structures to keep birds from striking the glass. For more information, see https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/advances-in-window-safety-come-to-the-cornell-lab-and-cornell-campus/

Flowers: If you didn’t get a chance to plant tulip bulbs last month (in a location safe from deer) or other hardy bulbs, you can do it now.

Fruits and Vegetables: If heavy frosts haven’t yet occurred in your area, they are likely to arrive soon. Covering the plants may give you only a few degrees of protection, so if you still have main season vegetables in the garden, consider harvesting them now. Continue to harvest frost-tolerant vegetables such as beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, collards, kale, mustard greens, green onions, parsnips, radishes and turnips.

Trees and Shrubs: Looking for a tree with particularly beautiful fall color? You can find native trees with beautiful color at local nurseries. Choose those that will do well in the conditions on the site, paying special attention to sun and wind exposure, and particularly wet or dry places. It’s best to finish planting trees that will lose their leaves in the next week or so to give them some time to settle in before the ground freezes. To avoid deep planting that can cause failure of trees and shrubs, remove any soil you see over the root flare (the area where the trunk or stems meet the roots) before planting. To prevent settling, make the hole as deep as the rootball. Mound an inch or two of soil beneath the plant in the hole to allow for settling. To facilitate root establishment, make the hole 3-5 times the diameter of the rootball and remove all burlap, twine and wires as you refill the hole with the excavated soil. Water well to settle the soil, but don’t fertilize or add amendments.

Lawns: Continue mowing as long as the grass is growing. When a thick layer of leaves has fallen, rake them up to avoid smothering the grass. You can put leaves to good use in a compost pile. If the leaves disappear into the grass when you mow, there’s no need to take them away and this helps to keep beneficial organic matter in place. A mowing height of 3 to 4 inches is better for root development than shorter grass, especially if you remove no more than ⅓ of the grass blades when you mow (taller grass will also hide more shredded leaves).

Houseplants: Stop or greatly reduce fertilizing houseplants until spring. They usually grow less this time of year and won’t need fertilizer as the days become shorter. Some houseplants may need less water indoors. Others may need more when the heat is going full-tilt, and the indoor air is very dry. Check at least weekly to see how much water the plants need and water accordingly.

General: Continue to look for and destroy spotted lanternfly egg masses on many outdoor surfaces. For more information on spotted lanternfly, and how to deal with this invasive pest, seehttps://westchester.cce.cornell.edu/horticulture-environment/invasive-nuisance-species/invasive-pests/spotted-lanternfly

Last updated November 3, 2025