I Work for the Month of November \ 
By Henry Gibson, Pennsylvania 
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WITH the approach of Winter the thoughts of the 
gardener naturally turn to the protection of 
the hardy border, which at the best is a contro- 
versial matter, since, no matter how great the care given 
in the way of Winter protection, many plants succumb 
to the elements each Winter. To fuss over plants is 
considered by some to be misdirected energy, the con- 
tention being that nature will take care of the plants 
through cold as well as through the dry season. 
Rarely should we cover to exclude frost, but rather 
as a protection against alternate freezing and thawing. 
One has only to take lesson from Nature's way of do- 
ing things to learn that protection is a perfectly neces- 
sary operation. Not all of Nature's performances are 
apparent on the surface, but what appears to be, the 
blowing about of dead useless leaves is really very effi- 
cient mulching against the rigours of Winter. 
Protection during the Winter is a perfectly legitimate 
and -necessary operation, if the occupants of the peren- 
nial border are expected to survive with the smallest 
possible losses. As already suggested, it is not the cold 
that does the damage, but alternate heat and cold which 
tears, dries and kills the plant cells. Then water and 
ice get round the crowns of the plants, which by alter- 
nate freezing and thawing, rot stem and leaf. Then 
again, many plants are killed by breaking or lifting of 
the plants through the heaving action of frost and ice. 
Plants when once frozen should stay so all Winter, 
to thaw but once, and then to start into growth in the 
Spring time. A bank of snow is Nature's own way of 
protecting her proteges, but all water should be made 
to run away as fast as the snow melts. 
Manure as a means of protection is practically use- 
less, since it retains considerable water, unless it is 
mostly all straw. 
It is a common practice to protect plantations of 
Rhododendrons by filling up the space between the 
plants with leaves that fall from the trees about the 
place. While the leaves afford the necessary protection, 
it cannot be said to be a good practice. The leaves get 
wet from rains and snow, and become weighted down, 
and then they generate heat which is harmful to the 
plants. Moreover, air cannot pass freely through a 
compact mass of leaves, and this is one of the essentials 
of safe wintering of these plants. Exclude the sun by 
all means from drawing moisture from leaves, which, 
owing to the frozen condition of the ground, cannot be 
replaced by the roots, yet at all cost provide for a free 
circulation of air through and among the plants. Cold 
air circulating freely among the plants keeps them at 
a more even temperature than is possible otherwise, and 
they come through the coldest period in better shape. 
Burlap fastened about the plants is about the best- 
protection that we know of. It serves the purpose of 
excluding the sun and allows the air to reach the plants. 
Windbreaks are the order of the day, being generally 
planted on the North side of gardens and orchards to 
protect them from cold winds. This is all very well in 
its way, but in the case of evergreens a shield of this 
kind would be of considerable benefit in breaking the 
sun's rays during the Winter months. One has only to 
make a casual observation of those plants that suffer 
during the Winter months- to realize that most or all 
of the damage occurs on the South side, where the plants 
are exposed to full sun. 
In the same way are some of the very earliest flower- 
ing shrubs affected by being planted in the wrong posi- 
tions. Not infrequently we hear of someone who has a 
plantation of Forthysias, etc., from which they never 
have the pleasure of getting flowers. 
The reason is usually because they are planted in 
position where the early morning sun strikes them. 
They are thus caused to swell up their flower buds early, 
and the next thing that happens to them is that a cold 
snap comes along and kills all the buds. 
Planted in a northern aspect, where they are shaded 
from the sun during the greater part of the day, the 
buds would develop slowly, be more hardy, and con- 
sequently not be injured by frosts. 
The planting of deciduous stock may be continued as 
long as the ground remains open. All plantings made 
during this month, however, should have a mulch of 
long strawy litter put over them, before real extremes 
of weather set in. It is good practice to cut all flower- 
ing shrubs back two-thirds of their length at the time 
of planting. In the case of those that bloom on wood 
made the previous year, this means a sacrifice of bloom 
next season, but the loss will be amply compensated 
for the following year, by a display bloom that could 
never be expected from plants not cut back. 
From the standpoint of production, the vegetable 
garden has played its part for another season, and now 
preparations should be got under way for another start 
in the Spring. 
Celery will need protection from frosts. It is the 
custom in many places to lift and store it in trenches, 
but it has been our experience that this causes it to 
become stringy. When sufficient protection can be pro- 
vided, we think, the best plan is to lift and store suffi- 
cient only for a limited period, and cover the balance 
where it is growing with salt, hay, straw, or any other 
material that may be available, lifting again during a 
mild period in the weather for current use. 
Root vegetables may be lifted and stored if not al- 
ready .done. Late crops of lettuce may be kept for a 
long time if protected from frosts. 
Potatoes, if picked over now, will give very little 
further trouble during the Winter. Green tomatoes 
should be picked before they are damaged by frosts and 
stored on shelves in a cool cellar. They can then be 
brought into the green house, or sunny window, to be 
ripened as desired for use. 
Don't omit to clean up the asparagus bed. Cut off 
the old foliage as soon as it is blackened by frost and 
burn it. Cultivate between the rows, and" when the 
ground freezes put on a mulch of litter. 
Vacant ground that is at all heavy should be manured 
and ploughed, or spaded as deeply as possible, and left 
in a rough condition exposed to the Winter elements. 
Frosts and snows have a wonderful influence upon soils. 
They break up, purify and sweeten the soil as no other 
means can. 
Any trenching that is contemplated should be carried 
out as long as the weather permits of the work being 
done. This is a time honored Winter job, and nothing 
so much accelerates the productiveness of the vegetable 
plot as trenching every second or third year. Plenty 
of barnyard manure should be incorporated as the work 
of turning over the subsoil proceeds. 
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