November garden tasks: Pacific Northwest

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Peach leaf curl: the leaf-drop spray

Peach leaf curl is the most common disease of peaches and nectarines west of the Cascades. Once you see the puckered red leaves in spring, it is too late to treat that year. WSU Extension and OSU Extension both time protective fungicide sprays for the dormant season. The first goes on after the leaves fall in late autumn, and the second before buds swell in late winter.

• Use a fungicide labeled for peach leaf curl on home fruit trees. Fixed copper products are the common home-garden choice. Follow the label exactly.
• Spray on a dry day, with no rain expected long enough for the spray to dry.
• Cover all twigs and buds thoroughly. The fungus overwinters on bark and bud surfaces.
• Resistant varieties reduce the need to spray. Ask about them if you are planting a new peach.

Orchard and garden sanitation

OSU Extension's November garden calendar focuses on fall cleanup. Many fruit diseases spend the winter in fallen leaves and fruit.

• Rake and remove apple and pear leaves where scab was a problem, and pick up dropped and mummified fruit.
• Strip mummified fruit from trees and remove fallen blueberry fruit and leaves. The September guide covers mummy berry.
• Pull spent vegetable plants, especially blighted tomatoes and potatoes. Don't compost diseased material in a cool home pile.
• Don't prune cherries, plums or other stone fruit now. Per OSU's guide to bacterial canker, wet weather favors infection of stone fruit, so prune them in dry weather.
• Cut back and remove perennial foliage that had disease, such as peony leaves with blight or hollyhocks with rust. Healthy stems can stand until late winter.
• Clean up rose leaves that had black spot. The fungus overwinters on fallen leaves, and spring rain splashes it back onto new growth.

Living with winter rain

Wet clay is easy to damage. OSU Extension's guide to wet soils describes how walking on, working or driving over saturated soil compacts it and harms its structure for a long time.

• Stay off waterlogged beds and lawns. Use planks or permanent paths if you have to get into the garden.
• Watch where water stands after storms. Those are the spots for raised beds, a rain garden, or plants that tolerate wet feet.
• Keep beds mulched. Mulch protects the surface from pounding rain and keeps nutrients from washing away.
• Don't fertilize perennials, shrubs or vegetable beds now. Nutrients leach away in winter rain before plants can use them (see the March guide).

Leaves, compost and mulch

Leaves are the main source of organic matter in a PNW garden.

• Shred leaves with a mower or shredder before composting or mulching. Shredded leaves break down far faster than whole ones.
• Mix leaves with green material and keep the pile damp but not soggy. In the rainy season, cover the pile so it doesn't get waterlogged.
• Spread shredded leaves a few inches deep on vegetable beds and around shrubs. By spring, worms will have pulled much of the layer into the soil.
• Avoid leaves from diseased plants (apple scab, black spot on roses, leaf blights) in compost or mulch. Bag them or send them out with yard debris.
• Leave some leaf litter and hollow perennial stems in out-of-the-way spots. OSU Extension notes that many native bees overwinter in stems, leaf litter and undisturbed ground.

Winter crops, containers and cold snaps

West-side winters are mild, but most years bring at least one cold snap, often with dry east winds. When a hard freeze is forecast, follow OSU Extension's cold-weather checklist:

• Cover lettuce, chard and young brassicas with row cover or cloches. Kale, leeks and collards are hardier.
• Move containers against the house or into an unheated garage. Roots in pots freeze far more easily than roots in the ground.
• Water plants that are dry before the freeze. Moist soil holds heat better.
• Drain and store hoses, and shut off and drain outdoor faucets.

Keep up slug control around winter greens and garlic. The September guide recommends fresh bait every couple of weeks through December.

Tools and equipment: clean soil off shovels and pruners, oil metal parts, and store them dry. Drain fuel from mowers and other small engines you won't use until spring, or add stabilizer. Empty and store clay and ceramic pots that could crack if water freezes in them.

Keep planting while the soil allows

West of the Cascades, November is still a good planting month whenever the soil isn't saturated. Per OSU Extension, trees, shrubs and perennials planted in fall root in over the mild winter and need less summer watering their first year than spring-planted stock.

• Finish planting spring bulbs this month. Plant them in well-drained spots or raised beds so they don't rot in winter-wet clay.
• Finish any garlic planting early in the month (see the October guide).
• Move shrubs or perennials that are in the wrong spot now, while they are dormant and rain keeps the roots moist.
• Plant at the same depth the plant grew in the pot, and don't amend heavily in clay. A pocket of loose, rich soil in clay acts like a bathtub and holds water around the roots.

Lawns in November

West-side lawns are still green and growing slowly. Mow when it is dry enough not to rut the turf. Keep leaves raked off, because a wet leaf mat smothers grass and invites moss and disease. OSU Extension's guide to fertilizing lawns lays out a seasonal feeding plan for western Oregon, and September is the most important fall feeding. Don't try to make up for a missed application with heavy winter feeding.

Moss is spreading now. Per WSU Extension, the lasting fixes are more light, better drainage, correct pH and fertility, and thicker turf. Plan them for the spring and fall renovation windows.

Low, soggy spots that stay wet through winter are the hardest places to keep grass. If a corner of the lawn is standing in water every November, consider a rain garden, a gravel path or a moisture-tolerant groundcover there rather than fighting it every spring. Keep mower and foot traffic off saturated turf. The ruts and compaction last well into the growing season.

East of the Cascades

East of the Cascades, the ground starts freezing in November:

• Spread winter mulch (straw or shredded leaves) over strawberries, perennials and the garlic bed after the soil begins to freeze. Mulch put on too early can attract rodents and hold heat in the soil.
• Protect the bud unions of grafted roses with mounded soil or mulch. The winter rose protection guide covers the details.
• Water evergreens during dry spells while the ground is still unfrozen. University of Idaho Extension links winter browning to plants going into winter dry.
• Wrap the trunks of young, thin-barked trees on south and west sides if sunscald has been a problem.

Common mistakes

Frequently asked

When do I spray for peach leaf curl in the Pacific Northwest?

Twice during dormancy: after the leaves fall in late autumn, and again in late winter before buds swell. WSU and OSU Extension both stress that spraying after symptoms appear is too late.

Should I fertilize my lawn or garden in November?

Not west of the Cascades. Winter rain leaches nutrients before plants can use them. The key fall lawn feeding was in September, and garden beds get fed when growth starts in spring.

Can I still plant garlic in November?

Yes, in the western lowlands early November still works. October is better, because the plants have more time to root in before winter.

Sources

1. November Garden Calendar (EM 9615), OSU Extension
2. Peach: Leaf curl, WSU Extension HortSense
3. Peach leaf curl, OSU Extension (Solve Pest Problems)
4. Bacterial canker and blast, OSU Extension (Solve Pest Problems)
5. Ponding, plugging and pugging: How to care for wet spring soils, OSU Extension
6. Protect landscapes when freezing weather moves in, OSU Extension
7. Maintain a bee-friendly garden in fall and winter, too, OSU Extension
8. Lawn and Turf: Moss, WSU Extension HortSense

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