What to do on the allotment in November

By the Tilthwick team

Sources awaiting check

Draft: preview builds only.

November is for planting garlic, hardy broad beans and bare-root fruit, lifting leeks and parsnips, netting brassicas and clearing beds for winter. Days are short and the ground is often wet, so pick your moments.

This month's priorities

  1. Get garlic in, or into modules if your soil is wet.
  2. Net brassicas before pigeons find them.
  3. Clear finished crops and cover empty ground.

Sow indoors and out

  • Garlic: usually planted from mid-autumn to early winter, so November is a good time. Most varieties need a cold spell to form good bulbs. If your soil is heavy or wet over winter, start the cloves in modules and plant them out in spring.
  • Broad beans: some hardy varieties can be sown in autumn for an earlier crop.

Plant out

  • Bare-root raspberries: plant while they're dormant, between November and March, as long as the soil isn't frozen.
  • Rhubarb crowns: bare-root crowns go on sale from November. Plant them soon after they arrive.

Harvest

  • Leeks: hardy winter varieties can stand through the coldest weather. Lift as you need them.
  • Parsnips: leave them in the ground until you're ready to eat them.
  • Brussels sprouts, kale and winter cabbage: keep picking as they're ready.

Soil and maintenance

  • Clear finished crops. Compost healthy material. Don't home-compost blighted potato or tomato foliage: the RHS says to send it to council green waste or burn it, because the spores may survive home composting.
  • Cover empty beds to keep weeds off over winter. If you're going no-dig, note that the RHS prefers mulching in late winter (February or early March), because autumn mulching can waste nitrogen.
  • Clean and store canes, pots and tools.
  • Plan next year's rotation while this year is fresh in your mind. The plot planner helps.

Weather

Frost risk varies from place to place and through the season, so treat every date on this page as a guide. Avoid planting into waterlogged soil: wet soil makes autumn-planted garlic more prone to disease.

Wildlife

Pigeons go for cabbage-family leaves in winter, and netting is the only certain protection. Keep nets taut and fastened so birds and other wildlife don't get tangled.

If you have one hour this week

  • Plant a row of garlic, or a tray of garlic in modules.
  • Check and tighten the nets over your brassicas.
  • Lift a few leeks or parsnips.

FAQs

Is it too late to plant garlic in November?

No. Garlic is usually planted from mid-autumn to early winter. If the ground is waterlogged, start cloves in modules and plant them out in spring.

Should I dig my allotment in November?

You don't have to. No-dig means covering the soil with organic matter instead of digging. Our no-dig guide compares the two.

Your next step

Open the sowing calendar to see what's due on your plot this month and next, then get the garlic in. Our onions and garlic guide covers spacing and depth.

Allotment sowing and jobs calendar

Worked example

For a cold plot growing broad beans, peas, runner beans, onions (sets), garlic, leeks, carrots, potatoes:

  • Region band Cold: spring sowing and planting about 2 weeks later, autumn sowing and planting about 2 weeks earlier. That's our rule of thumb, not a measured figure
  • March: Sow under cover: Broad beans, Peas, Onions (sets) (early March), Leeks
  • March: Sow outdoors: Peas (late March), Onions (sets) (late March), Leeks (late March), Carrots
  • March: Plant out: Peas (late March), Onions (sets) (late March), Garlic, Potatoes (late March)
  • March: Harvest: Leeks
Worked example: sow, plant and harvest months for a cold plot
CropJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Broad beanslate CCearly C late S late PS P Hearly S early P HHHlate SSearly S
Peas awaiting checklate CC late S late Pearly C S PS early PS Hearly S HHHH
Runner beanslate CC late S late Pearly C S PS P Hearly S early P HHH
Onions (sets)late CCearly C late S late PS Pearly S early PHlate S HS late P Hearly S P HPearly P
Garliclate PPearly PHHHHlate PPPearly P
LeeksHlate C HC late S Hearly C SSSearly SHHHHH
Carrotslate SSSS HS HS Hearly S HHHH
Potatoeslate PPPearly P HHHHH

C sow under cover · S sow outdoors · P plant out · H harvest. "early" or "late" means only that half of the month.

Based on: Met Office. Sowing, planting and harvest months from RHS grow-your-own guides.

Sources

  • Met Office: Met Office: what frost is, when it forms and how frost risk varies by place and season checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS: garlic is usually planted from mid-autumn to early winter; some varieties can go in during late winter or early spring checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS: some hardy broad bean varieties can be sown in autumn; others are for late winter or spring sowing checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS: plant raspberry canes while dormant, between November and March, provided the soil isn't frozen checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS garlic: plant mid-autumn to early winter (some types late winter/early spring); most need one to two months at 0-10°C; cloves 15cm apart, tip 2.5cm below the surface, rows 30cm apart; on heavy or wet soil start in modules; ready when leaves turn yellow; dry for two to four weeks; sunny site with free-draining soil; low maintenance; can be grown in pots at least 25cm deep of peat-free multi-purpose compost; leek rust is a common fungal disease of leeks and garlic and also affects onions awaiting check
  • RHS: RHS rhubarb: bare-root crowns available November to March; force by covering with a forcer, bucket or bin in mid-winter; forced stems ready four to eight weeks after covering; don't harvest in the first year after planting awaiting check
  • RHS: RHS: leeks are hardy and can be lifted through winter checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS: parsnips can be left in the ground until you are ready to eat them checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS blight: caused by Phytophthora infestans; most common in warm, wet weather; spores blow long distances from other plots; cut off potato haulm at soil level when heavily infected; some cultivars (e.g. Sarpo types) show good resistance; destroy leftover tubers; don't home-compost infected material; no fungicides available to gardeners; AHDB BlightSpy gives forecasts awaiting check
  • RHS: RHS no-dig: cover the soil with organic matter instead of digging; on weedy ground lay a double layer of plain cardboard and 10-15cm of organic matter; top up with an annual mulch about 5cm deep; late winter (February or early March) is the best time to mulch; it can use large amounts of mulch awaiting check
  • RHS: RHS crop rotation: group crops (brassicas, legumes, onions, potato family and roots) and move each section a step forward every year to limit soil pests and diseases checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS: pigeons eat brassica leaves, including winter brassicas; netting is the only certain protection checked 24 Oct 2026
  • RHS: RHS raspberries: cover with plastic-free or reused netting held clear of the fruit on canes or poles, taut and fastened so birds and wildlife don't get entangled, or grow them in a fruit cage; bare-root canes can be planted while dormant, November to March, if the soil isn't frozen awaiting check
  • RHS: RHS: no-dig gardening, mulching the surface instead of digging checked 24 Oct 2026