November in the garden: plant before winter
In short: November is the month for bare-root plants: trees, shrubs, hedges and roses go in now, as long as the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged. It is also the right time for the last tulips, garlic, grease bands in the orchard and a native hedge, which Wallonia subsidises and for which municipalities hand out free plants at the end of November.
The garden seems to be going to sleep, yet November is one of the busiest planting months. Nurseries bring out their bare-root stock, the ground is still workable and the rain takes care of much of the watering. Whatever you plant now will have time to settle in before it starts growing in spring.
After September (in French) and its bulbs, then October and the tender plants to bring in before the first frost, here are the jobs that really matter in November.
November in Belgium: what the thermometer says
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) sums up the month well: in Uccle, the average daily temperature falls from about 9 °C at the start of November to about 5 °C at the end. On average there are 4.5 frost days, 76.4 mm of rain and barely 66 hours of sunshine in the whole month.
In practice, this means two things. First, frosts are few in the lowlands, which leaves almost the whole month for planting. Second, hard frosts are not impossible: Uccle's November record is −11.0 °C, on 30 November 1921. And altitude makes all the difference: average November minimums are around 4.5 °C in the lowlands, but about 1 °C on the high ground of the Ardennes.
The rule is therefore simple: plant on days when the spade goes in easily, never in frozen or waterlogged soil.
"On St Catherine's Day, all wood takes root": true or false?
This French saying for 25 November is one of the best known among gardeners. It holds a good deal of truth, but not quite for the reason people think.
What is true: this is bare-root season. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advises buying and planting bare-root trees between November and March, while they are dormant. Planted in November, a tree has the whole winter for the soil to settle around its roots, and it benefits from the rain.
What is exaggerated: a tree does not make roots "all winter". Root growth depends mainly on soil temperature. An article on the American university blog The Garden Professors points out that as the soil cools, new root growth practically stops. In the American Midwest, with its harsh winters, the author therefore considers autumn an "OK" time to plant, not necessarily the best.
In Belgium, the mild, damp climate tends to favour the saying: there are few frost days in November and the rain saves watering, whereas lack of water is a young tree's main enemy. Two caveats all the same:
- evergreens and semi-evergreens (yew, privet, box) establish better when planted in early autumn or in spring, according to the RHS;
- slightly tender plants and those bought in pots are better left until March or April.
Planting a bare-root tree or shrub, step by step
A bare-root plant costs much less than a container-grown one, provided you never let its roots dry out. Here is the RHS method, adapted to our gardens:
- Plant quickly. Ideally as soon as the plants arrive. If you cannot plant straight away (frozen soil, driving rain), "heel them in": lay them close together in a trench, with the roots covered by at least 20 cm of soil.
- Soak the roots in a bucket of water: half an hour if they look moist, up to two hours if they look dry. Cut damaged roots back to healthy tissue.
- Dig wide rather than deep: a hole up to three times as wide as the roots, but no deeper. Loosen compacted sides with a fork, without digging over the bottom, or the tree will sink as the soil settles.
- Keep the original depth: the tree must be planted at exactly the same depth as in the nursery. The darker mark on the trunk shows the old soil level.
- Stake low: the stake should anchor the roots, not hold the whole trunk rigid; the trunk grows stronger by moving in the wind.
- Mulch at least 5 cm deep, leaving 10 cm clear around the trunk to prevent rot.
- Water for the first few years: the RHS notes that water stress is common during the three years after planting.
Bare-root roses
November is also the great month for roses. The RHS advises planting them at leaf fall, or from late winter to early spring, but never when the ground is frozen. Bare-root roses offer the widest choice of varieties and the lowest prices.
A few rules specific to roses:
- The graft union (the swelling at the base of the stems) goes at soil level. Any lower increases the risk of dieback.
- Prepare the soil by mixing in at least a bucketful of well-rotted compost per square metre, to a depth of 20 to 30 cm.
- Do not plant a rose where another one grew without taking precautions: roses suffer from "replant disease". The RHS then advises replacing the soil to a depth and width of 45 cm with soil taken from another part of the garden.
- Water in dry spells for at least the following two summers.
To propagate your roses yourself, see our article on growing roses from seed and cuttings (in French). And if you are tempted by cheap supermarket roses, read this one (in French) first.
A native hedge, with help from Wallonia
A hedge of native species such as hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel or elder gives birds and insects food and shelter. For a deciduous hedge, the RHS sets the planting window from leaf fall to late winter. It recommends spacing young plants 30 to 60 cm apart. For a thick hedge, plant two staggered rows 45 cm apart. Prepare a strip 60 to 90 cm wide, without putting organic matter at the bottom of the trench: as it decomposes, it would make the plants sink.
The Walloon Region subsidises such plantings, private individuals included. According to the official page updated in July 2026, the grant is:
| Planting | Subsidy |
|---|---|
| Hedge, 1 row | €5 per metre |
| Hedge, 2 rows | €7 per metre |
| Hedge, 3 rows or more | €9 per metre |
| Orchard | €25 per tree |
| Line of trees | €6 per nursery tree |
The amounts are multiplied by 1.5 if a specialist company does the work, up to a maximum of 80% of the invoice. Note the order of the steps: you apply after planting, no later than six months after the work is finished. You must then maintain the planting for 30 years, and at least 80% of the plants must have taken. An optional prior opinion, which is recommended, can be requested before planting.
Free plants at the end of November. For the 2026 Tree Week (Semaine de l'arbre), devoted to the "Year of the Passerines", participating Walloon municipalities hand out plants to residents on 21, 22, 28 or 29 November, depending on the municipality. Activities are planned from 23 to 27 November. The species featured feed or shelter small birds: holly, elder, rowan, blackthorn, birch, oak, willow and hawthorn. Ask your municipality for the date and place.
The last tulips
If some tulips are still waiting in the garage, all is not lost: the RHS actually advises planting them in November. As we explained in September in the garden (in French), late planting in cooler soil suits them very well.
Check the bulbs before planting: discard any that are soft or show patches of rot. Their worst enemy is tulip fire, a disease caused by the fungus Botrytis tulipae, a relative of grey mould. To limit it, the RHS recommends spacing the bulbs, choosing an airy spot and not planting tulips for at least three years where the disease has appeared.
In the orchard: put on grease bands
If your fruit trees had holed leaves in spring and green caterpillars that move by "looping", the culprit is probably the winter moth (Operophtera brumata). Its females have no wings: in November they climb up the trunks to lay their eggs in the canopy.
The answer is mechanical: a grease band around the trunk, and around the stake, about 45 cm above the ground. The RHS advises putting it on in late October or early November and keeping it sticky and clean until April. It also stops other winter moths with wingless females, such as the mottled umber (Erannis defoliaria).
One precaution: these bands are not selective and trap every small creature that climbs, including useful ones such as earwigs. So only use them on trees that have really suffered from winter moth. Avoid glues strong enough to hold a bird or a bat.
Shrubs: prune, tie in, take cuttings
The RHS November calendar for trees and shrubs is short but useful:
- Cut bush roses back by a third to stop the winter wind rocking them and damaging their roots. Proper pruning waits until late winter.
- Cut back by half shrubs that are pruned hard in spring, such as the butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), for the same reason. The hard pruning itself is done in March.
- Check stakes and ties before storms, and loosen any that are strangling a trunk.
- Protect young trunks from rabbits and deer with a guard, preferably biodegradable.
- Take hardwood cuttings of easy shrubs such as dogwoods (Cornus) or willows (Salix), from this year's stems.
- Collect diseased leaves, from roses for example, to limit disease next year. Healthy leaves make excellent leaf mould.
Protecting from frost without wrapping everything
Tender plants should already be under cover. If not, bring in pelargoniums, fuchsias and citrus without delay. Lift dahlias as soon as the first frost has blackened their foliage.
For plants that stay outside, a few steps are enough: move pots against a sheltered wall, raise them on feet so the water drains away, mulch the base of slightly tender plants. Horticultural fleece helps against wind and light frost, but it will not make a tender plant hardy. Full details are in our guide to overwintering garden plants (in French).
Also remember to turn off and drain outside taps and bring in garden hoses: water that freezes in a pipe makes it burst.
In the vegetable garden: garlic, broad beans and winter vegetables
Garlic is planted from mid-autumn to early winter. This is not just tradition: the RHS explains that most varieties need one to two months at 0 to 10 °C to form a good bulb. Plant the cloves pointed end up, with the tip 2.5 cm below the surface, and no deeper in heavy soil.
Broad beans can be sown in October or November in mild, sheltered spots, using a hardy variety such as 'Aquadulce Claudia', which the RHS recommends for autumn sowing. You will harvest earlier in spring. Fleece during cold spells and a 5 cm mulch protect the young plants, but watch out for mice and slugs.
The rest of the vegetable garden is harvested as needed: leeks, Brussels sprouts and kale stay in place all winter. Cover empty beds with a leaf mulch so the soil is not left bare in the rain.
Birds: feed them, yes, but not just anyhow
When it turns cold, the urge to fill a feeder is natural. Yet Natagora, the Belgian nature conservation association, points out that the best feeder is still a natural garden: hedges, berrying shrubs, wild seeds left on the stems, log piles and insects. It advises keeping feeding for periods of hard frost, in amounts that disappear within a few hours. Its "natural garden" leaflet does, however, accept small amounts of seed all year round.
Its leaflets give a few simple rules:
- mixed seeds, preferably hulled sunflower seeds, because husks piling up under the feeder encourage diseases such as trichomonosis;
- no fat balls in nets, in which birds get their feet and wings caught;
- nothing salty or mouldy, and unsalted peanuts only in winter: in mild, damp weather they go mouldy more easily and may contain aflatoxins, toxins produced by certain moulds;
- fresh water, with no salt, no oil and no antifreeze;
- strict hygiene: brush the feeder at every refill, wash it regularly in hot soapy water, sweep the ground underneath and move it from time to time. If sick birds appear, stop feeding and disinfect everything.
Planting a native hedge is still the best gift you can give small birds, which fits November nicely.
Indoors: the Christmas amaryllis
Allow about six to ten weeks between planting an amaryllis bulb and flowering. To have it in bloom for Christmas, plant it at the very start of November at the latest. Everything is explained in our article Amaryllis: plant it for Christmas and make it flower again.
November at a glance
| When | In the garden | In the orchard and vegetable garden |
|---|---|---|
| Start of the month | Bring in the last tender plants, lift dahlias after the first frost | Put on grease bands, plant garlic |
| All month, except in frost | Plant bare-root trees, shrubs, hedges and roses, the last tulips | Sow broad beans (sheltered spot), harvest leeks and cabbages |
| 21-29 November | Tree Week plant distribution in Walloon municipalities | Plant fruit trees received or bought |
| 25 November | St Catherine's Day: the symbolic time for planting | |
| Throughout | Mulch, check stakes and ties, collect diseased leaves | Feed birds in hard frost only, keep the feeder clean |
Sources
Natagora. (n.d.). Comment bien nourrir les oiseaux ? https://www.natagora.be/faqs/comment-bien-nourrir-les-oiseaux
Natagora. (2021). Le nourrissage des oiseaux [Natural garden leaflet, updated 11/2021]. Réseau Nature. https://reseaunature.natagora.be/fileadmin/Projet_Reseau_Nature/Fiches_JNat/JNat_nourrissage_oiseaux.pdf
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-a). Broad beans: how to grow. https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/broad-beans/grow-your-own
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-b). Bulbs: planting tips. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/bulbs/planting
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-c). Garlic: how to grow. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/garlic
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-d). Grease bands and tree barrier glues. https://www.rhs.org.uk/prevention-protection/grease-bands-and-tree-barrier-glues
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-e). Hedges: planting. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/hedges/planting
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-f). Jobs for November: trees and shrubs. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/november/trees-shrubs
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-g). Roses: planting. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/roses/planting
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-h). Trees: buying and planting specimens. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/buying-planting-specimens
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.-i). Tulip fire. https://www.rhs.org.uk/disease/tulip-fire
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. (n.d.). Climat de la Belgique mois après mois : novembre. https://www.meteo.be/fr/climat/climat-de-la-belgique/mois-apres-mois/novembre
Service public de Wallonie. (2026, July 23). Demander une subvention pour la plantation d'une haie vive, d'un taillis linéaire, d'un verger et d'un alignement d'arbres. Wallonie.be. https://www.wallonie.be/fr/demarches/demander-une-subvention-pour-la-plantation-dune-haie-vive-dun-taillis-lineaire-dun-verger-et
Service public de Wallonie. (2026). Semaine de l'arbre 2026 : vademecum. https://environnement.wallonie.be/files/Documents%20pdf/Loisirs/Semaine%20de%20l'arbre/26_04-14~Vademecum_SA2026_Final.pdf
The Garden Professors. (n.d.). Is fall really a great time to plant trees? https://gardenprofessors.com/is-fall-really-a-great-time-to-plant-trees/