November Planting Guide by Zone
Click on your Zone for details.
Zones 1 – 4
- Now is a great time to clean up your garden thoroughly, as time spent now will save you much more time and work next season. Make sure all plant debris is removed from your garden and surrounding areas, composting the healthy debris and removing any diseased or infested foliage. This will make it difficult for any pests or diseases to find a spot to overwinter in your garden.
- Do a final weeding and remove all weed residue once the garden plants die back after the first few hard frosts. It’s easier to see some weeds once the garden plants die back and are removed, and it is easier to get those perennial weeds that stay green all year.
- If you have fought pests this past season, lightly till the top two inches of your garden soil, then add a thick layer of well-aged compost at least 3 inches thick to feed and protect the soil over the winter.
- Prepare your perennials for winter by mulching them heavily, but only after the ground freezes fully. This stops the cycles of freezing and thawing that cause damage to them.
- Care for your compost pile by checking to see if it is dry – water well during the warmth of the day and add fallen leaves and healthy garden debris to it. If you live in a wet winter area, consider covering the compost to protect it from excessive moisture leaching out those hard-earned nutrients.
- Drain outdoor faucets and garden hoses, and clean and oil all of your garden tools before storing them for the winter. Clean off all soil and mud residue, then disinfect with a 10% bleach solution to prevent any diseases from gaining an advantage. Finally, sharpen and lightly oil working surfaces to minimize rust over the winter.
- If you’ve planted a winter garden in a coldframe or hoop house, monitor the weather forecasts for large overnight temperature drops and add floating row coves or an additional layer of protection on extra-cold nights.
- For winter-dormant garden beds, cover them with straw, shredded leaves, or wood chips to keep weeds from growing and protect them from temperature extremes.
- Take stock of this year’s garden and make a few notes or sketches for next spring. Reflect on what grew well, what failed miserably, and what changes you will make next year. You will be surprised at how useful these notes can be when you start ordering seeds and plants for next year!
Zones 5 – 6
- Use small stakes or markers to show where you’ve planted bulbs or late-starting plants to avoid disturbing them when you begin spring soil preparation.
- Apply protective mulches on the perennial garden after the ground has frozen an inch or two.
- Mulch strawberries for winter with straw. This should be done after several nights near 20 degrees but before temperatures drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely but thick enough to hide plants from view.
- If you haven’t planted a winter garden, clean it by removing all plant debris from your garden and surrounding areas, composting the healthy debris, and removing any diseased or infested foliage. This will make it difficult for pests or diseases to find a spot to overwinter in your garden and save you much-needed time next spring.
- For winter-dormant garden beds, cover them with straw, shredded leaves, or wood chips to keep weeds from growing and protect them from temperature extremes.
- Check for your compost pile to see if it is dry – water well during the warmth of the day and add leaves and healthy garden debris to it. If you live in a wet winter area, consider covering the compost to protect it from excessive moisture leaching out those hard-earned nutrients.
- Before your first hard frost or freeze, drain and bring garden hoses in soon and drain outdoor faucets.
- Clean shovels, spades, pruners, and garden tools with a wire brush and bucket of sand. Remove all debris and wipe with an oiled cloth. Sharpen blades.
- Scrub and disinfect empty planters and flowerpots from debris, soaking with mild bleach water solution and rinsing.
- November is a traditional time to plant garlic. To protect the newly planted cloves over the winter, make sure to cover them with six inches of mulch.
- Mulch your garden beds with fallen leaves, or add them to your compost pile.
- Check on your winter garden. Thin lettuce, spinach, and Swiss chard as needed. Harvest any remaining root vegetables in the ground before they freeze hard. Remove any dirt clinging to them and store them in a cool spot nestled in straw to moderate temperature and moisture.
- Harvest parsnips, salsify, and root parsley after the first couple of frosts, when their flavor will have sweetened.
- If you’ve noticed a decline in the production of your rhubarb plant, divide the clump once it is dormant – after the first few hard frosts – to boost health and production next year.
- If you have fought pests this past season, till the top two inches of your vegetable garden after the first couple of frosts but before the first hard freeze, to expose those pests to the winter cold, significantly reducing their numbers in next year’s garden.
- Take stock of this year’s garden and make a few notes or sketches for next spring. Reflect on what grew well, what didn’t, and what changes you will make next year. You will be surprised at how useful these notes can be when you start ordering seeds and plants for next year!
Zones 7 – 8
- Continue planting cool-season transplants such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, onion, parsnips, radishes, spinach, and turnips.
- Deadhead spent blooms to encourage flowering.
- Be sure to protect your crops before a hard freeze. Crops such as lettuce, spinach, chives, and parsley must be covered if you expect them to survive.
- You can also plant Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, radishes, beets, spinach, carrots, kale, and peas in a covered area such as a greenhouse, cold frame, or row cover.
- Watch for frost warnings. Extend the harvest by protecting plants with row covers
- Sow wildflower seeds.
- If you haven’t planted a winter garden, clean it by removing all plant debris from your garden and surrounding areas, composting the healthy debris, and removing any diseased or infested foliage. This will make it difficult for pests or diseases to find a spot to overwinter in your garden and save you much-needed time next spring.
- For winter-dormant garden beds, cover them with straw, shredded leaves, or wood chips to keep weeds from growing and protect them from temperature extremes.
- Check for your compost pile to see if it is dry – water well during the warmth of the day and add leaves and healthy garden debris to it. If you live in a wet winter area, consider covering the compost to protect it from excessive moisture leaching out those hard-earned nutrients.
- Before your first hard frost or freeze, drain and bring garden hoses in soon and drain outdoor faucets.
- Clean shovels, spades, pruners, and garden tools with a wire brush and bucket of sand. Remove all debris and wipe with an oiled cloth. Sharpen blades.
- Scrub and disinfect empty planters and flowerpots from debris, soaking with mild bleach water solution and rinsing.
Zones 9 – 10
- Continue planting winter vegetables, such as beets, broccoli, cabbage, onions, radishes, and spinach.
- Continue planting herbs that like cooler weather, such as dill, sage, thyme, cilantro, fennel, and parsley.
- Plant hardy annuals, such as poppies, pansies, and larkspur.
- Top-dress your perennial beds with a layer of compost.
- November is also a great time to plant garlic and onions in this zone. Be sure to protect your lettuce and spinach crops as the cool weather moves in. They should be covered when the temperatures drop.
- Harvest any remaining cabbage, broccoli, carrots, turnips, and kale. Wait until after the first frost, as the frost will help the harvest be sweeter in flavor.
- Plant wildflowers this month by tossing the seeds into an opening or bed and raking soil over them.
- Cold weather is beginning to set in, even in zone nine. Tomatoes don’t handle cold weather well, but you may notice the plants are still producing, and some of the fruit is still green. Save your green tomatoes by pulling the tomato plants up by the roots, hanging them indoors, and waiting until the tomatoes ripen before plucking the fruit and discarding the plant.
- Keep your fall vegetable garden going. Harvest often and succession plant.
- Continue harvesting beans, squash, any fruit, carrots, cucumbers, peas, lettuce, and kale. When harvesting fruit, be sure to clean up any fruit that may have fallen to deter pests and diseases from hanging out around your fruit trees or plants.
- Keep an eye on the weather and be prepared to protect your plants if a cold snap is near.
Zone Planting Guides
Planting charts for your Zone
Zone 3
Zone 3 is the coldest and shortest of the USDA garden zones.
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Zone 7
Zone 8
Zone 9
Zone 10
USDA Zones vs First & Last Frost Dates
Which to Use and Why
USDA Zone Maps
These guides show the lowest average temperatures recorded in the area over the past 30 years.
They are a good basis for initial planning and comparison but should not be used as the only source of information for choosing what vegetables to grow or when to plant.
The Zone information is helpful when exchanging ideas with gardeners in different zones, as it is user-friendly.
Find your USDA hardiness zone here.
Scroll using your cursor to grab and move the map, then zoom in with the + and – buttons at the top left. Once you can see your town, city, or location, click on the map to see your Zone info in a popup window.
First & Last Frost Dates Tool
This frost dates tool provides detailed and accurate information for sowing seed, transplanting, and using frost protection to extend the growing season.
It includes historical data from numerous regional NOAA weather stations to help determine the likelihood of frost in spring and fall.
Find your First and Last frost dates here.
Enter your ZIP code and scroll down to see general information and the three closest weather stations to you.