Garden Variety: Weekend garden chores - A blog for the Mid-Atlantic gardener by The Baltimore Sun's Susan Reimer

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jed Kirschbaum

November is one of the toughest months in the garden - in terms of work, that is.

Its chores rival those of the spring, but with one difference. In November, it is a race against time and winter.

Though there will probably be unseasonably warm days between now and the thaw of March when you can get out in the garden and get some clean-up done, it isn't anything you should count on.

Get it done now. And then rest by the fire. You will find you actually have fewer chores in the spring!

With a special thanks to Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden and Helen Yoest of Gardening with Confidence and North Country Maturing Gardener, here are some garden tasks you need to complete before the snow flies.

Now is the time to prepare paperwhites, amaryllis and hyacinths for forcing indoors.

Mulch your roses and other shrubs, as well as your strawberry plants. Rake well under roses to remove diseased foliage.

Fertilize your lawn. Keep mowing until the grass stops growing and let the clippings lie on the lawn to return nitrogen to the soil. Then take your mower in for service. You will avoid the spring rush.

Consider using an anti-desiccant on evergreens to prevent the loss of water during the winter.

You can run over the last of the leaves with your lawn mower and let them lay on the grass. Or you can start a separate leaves-only compost pile for soil amending or leaf mulch.

As long as the ground is not frozen, there is still time to plant perennials, shrubs and trees.

After the first frost, it will be time to prune your roses.

Rake or blow the leaves out of your beds. Run them over with a lawn mower and them put them back on the beds to amend the soil and act as mulch.

Wrap the trunks of smaller trees to prevent damage by rodents.

Water trees and shrubs until the ground freezes. Check for and remove diseased foliage.

If you are going to have a live Christmas tree, dig a hole now and replace the dirt so you can easily plant the tree after the holidays.

Think about sowing some spinach now for a super-early crop in the spring.

If you had areas of your garden where things did not do well this year, take a soil sample and have it tested. You still have time to amend the soil so that the plants there will get a fresh start in spring.

Prepare your seed bed now for early spring crops, such as spinach, peas, asparagus or strawberries.

Summer flowering bulbs such as cannas, dahlias, and elephant ears need to be dug carefully for indoor storage.

Keep weeding!!!! You will save yourself backbreaking work in the spring.

Protect your fountain from freezing. Disconnect the hose, shut off the pump and protect the pump. If you have a cement fountain, put a towel in it. The towel will absorb water and freeze and the concrete is less likely to freeze and crack.