Hey there! Thanks for joining me today for Episode Four of the ATXGardens Podcast, airing on October 30th, 2025. I’m Colleen Dieter, landscape consultant at ATXGardens.com, and today’s episode is all about what to do in the first half of November.

But before we get to our gardening to-do list, this episode is sponsored by my landscape consulting business, ATXGardens.com. I help my customers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards. During a consultation, you can ask me anything—what to plant, how to care for your soil, tree problems, lawn maintenance—anything you can think of.

This week I met with Sally in Travis Country. She has two dogs and a very shady yard, and she wants to turn her backyard into a peaceful oasis for lounging and entertaining. She was also wondering where she could locate a vegetable garden. So, I suggested some redesign—changing the position of her planting areas and adding pathways to “destinations,” along with some designated spaces for her dogs.

We also talked about changing the type of furniture she has for lounging so that it takes up a little less space and creates a better flow of walkway traffic through the yard. I can answer all kinds of questions like that. And if you have similar questions to what Sally had, make an appointment with me today at ATXGardens.com.

In general, for fall, as I’ve mentioned in the last couple of episodes, do not fertilize your plants right now. Fertilizer stimulates growth, and we need plants to slow down and stop actively growing as they get ready for winter. Any new growth that isn’t hardened off yet will be vulnerable to cold weather.

This time of year, using liquid humate or compost tea is a great alternative to fertilizer. You can visit ATXGardens.com for my compost tea recipe, and there’s also an Amazon affiliate link to buy liquid humate. (I receive commissions for those sales.)

Now let’s talk about woody plants—all your trees and shrubs. November is the perfect time for planting and transplanting woody plants, including trees, shrubs, and vines with fall color. Planting now gives them an opportunity to get settled in through winter and spring so they’ll be well-established before the summer heat.

A lot of people don’t think of Austin as a place with good fall color, but we can have great color if we diversify our urban forest. Some native trees with excellent fall color include rusty blackhaw viburnum (my favorite small tree), possumhaw holly, Texas ash, and flameleaf sumac. They’re all good small- to medium-sized options that provide fairly reliable fall color. There’s always room for more small trees in the landscape—at least that’s what I like to tell myself.

November also kicks off the season when deer are growing new antlers covered in velvet. They’ll rub their antlers on new or small trees to remove that velvet, which can severely damage or even kill young trees. They’re particularly attracted to smooth-barked species like crape myrtles, palo verdes, Texas persimmons, Mexican plums, and most fruit trees.

So, if you live in an area with deer and your property isn’t fenced, protect those trees now through winter—pretty much until February, when antler rubbing stops. Check out the trunk protectors I recommend—there’s a link to them on Amazon in the show notes.

In November, many shade trees start to lose their leaves. A customer recently asked me why his pecan tree leaves looked so bad, and I told him—it’s normal! Trees know they’re about to shed their leaves, so it’s fine if they look rough this time of year. Pecan and walnut trees are usually the first to drop leaves, while red oaks and shumard oaks hold on until late December. Live oaks, awas, and Monterey oaks are semi-evergreen—they keep their leaves through winter and drop them in mid-March.

As those leaves fall, keep as many as you can! Use them as mulch around trees, fruit trees, and veggie beds—they’ll decompose and feed your soil. If you have lots of acorns, walnuts, or other native tree fruits, share them with Central Texas Seed Savers and TreeFolks through the Seed to Tree partnership. TreeFolks uses collected seeds in their native nursery and reforestation projects. Learn more in the show notes.

Hold off on pruning trees for now. Once the weather turns colder and trees are bare, then it’s pruning time. I’ll cover that in a future episode.

Now, a quick word from our sponsor—which is me! Hi all, I’m Colleen Dieter with ATXGardens.com. I share lots of garden advice here on the podcast, but nothing beats an in-person consultation to get personalized recommendations for your landscape. As a certified arborist and professional gardener with over 20 years of experience, I help clients reduce stress and gain confidence about their yards.

Visit ATXGardens.com to book a consultation. You’ll also find my favorite garden apparel, tools, and books—everything I mention here on the show.

Now, onto one of my favorite topics—fruit trees!

For early November, fruit trees will start losing their leaves. Be sure to pick up any fallen fruit, even shriveled ones, and remove fruit tree leaves as they drop. This helps prevent pests and diseases that can overwinter and reinfect trees in spring.

I always encourage keeping other tree leaves for mulch, but fruit tree debris is the exception—clean it up!

Fruit trees also have beautiful fall color, especially my giant Fuyu Asian persimmon, which is loaded with fruit right now.

November is the perfect time to plant containerized pome and stone fruits—that’s apples and pears (pomes), peaches and plums (stone fruits)—as well as grapes and persimmons. Later in December and January, we’ll get into bare-root planting.

When your trees have dropped most of their leaves, spray with copper soap to prevent diseases like fire blight (in apples and pears) and canker (in stone fruits).

Now let’s talk perennials and bulbs.

The first half of November is pushing the limit for planting warm-season perennials and ornamental grasses like salvias, shrimp plants, and four o’clocks. If you already have them, get them in the ground soon; otherwise, wait until spring.

Cool-season perennials and bulbs, however, are perfect for November planting! These include columbine, spiderwort, and lyreleaf sage—plants that green up in fall, stay lush through winter, and bloom in spring.

Bulbs to plant now include Dutch iris, snowflakes (Leucojum), rain lilies, and oxblood lilies. Remember, northern bulbs like tulips, crocus, and hyacinths need about eight weeks of refrigeration and usually only bloom once here in Texas.

Moving on to the vegetable garden—early November is prime time for planting cool-season crops!

Direct-sow arugula, Asian greens, beets, carrots, chard, mustard, turnips, lettuce, radishes, leeks, collards, and spinach. Add compost, plant your seeds, and plan for successive sowing every week or two for a continuous harvest.

Transplant broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage as small starts. And don’t forget garlic—plant individual cloves now (organic works best!).

It’s also time to start onions from seed and strawberries, which do best planted in fall so they’re strong for spring fruiting. They prefer compost-rich, well-drained soil and organic fertilizers with numbers under 10.

Now, let’s talk freeze prep—freezes can come as early as November 15th! Keep soil moist, and water plants the day before a freeze. Hydrated plants resist cold damage better than dry ones—like how a full ice cube tray freezes slower than a half-full one.

In the herb garden, start cool-season annuals like cutting celery, cilantro, parsley, dill, chamomile, calendula, and fennel. You can sow seeds directly or plant small starts.

Plant hardy perennial herbs now—mint, lemon balm, garlic chives, multiplying onions, catnip, and winter savory. Wait until spring for tender Mediterranean herbs like oregano, thyme, and rosemary unless you already have them established and can protect them from hard freezes.

And now for lawn care—if you’re maintaining a lawn, it’s going dormant now. Keep leaves off the grass to prevent smothering and thinning. Rake or mulch-mow regularly.

November is also a great time to start planning lawn-to-garden conversions. Book a consultation with me at ATXGardens.com to get started designing over the winter, prepping in late winter, and planting in spring.

You can also plant cool-season color now—pansies, violas, snapdragons, sweet peas, cyclamen, and dianthus. These add life to your garden through winter.

If you missed fall wildflower seeding, you can still plant wildflower starts or live roots from nurseries or Native American Seed, like Texas bluegrass, a rare and beautiful cool-season ornamental grass that grows in sun or light shade.

I have a bunch of events and classes coming up, and you’re all invited!

The Seeding Hope Fall Festival Fundraiser for Central Texas Seed Savers happens Saturday, November 1st at Green Sleeves Nursery in Pflugerville. Nessa from MicroLife and Jay from Texas Gardener Magazine will speak, and I’ll present on how seed sharing changes the world. Tickets are $26 and include food and drinks—purchase at ATXGardens.com.

Then on Saturday, November 8th, join us for the annual Seed Swap at the Austin Public Library (Central location) from 11–1. Bring seeds to share—or just come grab some! It’s free and open to everyone.

Finally, on Monday, November 17th, I’ll be speaking on proper tree planting techniques at the Williamson County Master Gardeners’ monthly meeting at 6:30 PM.

More info on all these events is available at ATXGardens.com.

That wraps up today’s episode! Don’t forget to check the show notes for links to tools, plants, and events I mentioned. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, please share it with a fellow gardener—it really helps more Central Texans find the show. See you next time!