Don't pack away the garden tools yet

By November the garden and the gardener are usually ready for some down time. You might be tempted to skimp on cleanup chores or put them off until spring, but it's worth the effort to get it out of the way before winter rides in and takes the choice away.

Barring unseasonably warm weather, by November the last lawn mowing of the season has been completed.

Most of the leaves have fallen by now, but give your lawn and garden a once-over before they are covered with snow. It's easier to clean up leaves and garden debris while they are dry and loosely packed than when they are sodden and clumped with ice and snow. Leaving them is not a viable option unless you want to risk killing the grass under the leaves. Letting the debris overwinter is also an invitation to rodents, pests and plant diseases. While you should remove leaves and debris in your plant beds as well as the lawn, it is not always necessary to cut the plants back at this time of year.

If you are not familiar with the growth habits of your shrubs and trees, hold back on the pruning until you find out if they bloom on old or new growth as you may be pruning away next year's blossoms. Some experts feel that marginally hardy plants, including some roses, may have a better chance of surviving the winter if pruning is delayed until early spring. Hold off on fertilizer, which encourages new growth and weakens the plant's ability to withstand cold weather extremes.

After a hard frost it will be obvious which perennials need to be cut back and which can wait until spring -- if they are sodden and wilted after a cold spell, cut them back now. If they still look good, as do sedums, Russian sage and many grasses, leave them for winter interest.

Apply mulch to plant beds for winter protection but remove it when temperatures warm up in the spring.

Before packing away the hose, your plants may benefit from additional watering if the weather is dry. Make sure that the water drains away from plants and trees. Few plants like to sit in water and poor drainage over the winter may cause the roots to rot.