November gets bad press. The clocks have gone back, the light disappears by teatime and the garden looks a bit like it’s given up. But if you ask me, it’s one of the most useful months of the year. The summer show is over, the borders have emptied out, and for once you can see what your garden is actually doing, rather than what it’s wearing.

Out on sites around Brighton and Hove, this is the month I’m happiest in. The ground is still workable, the plants are heading into dormancy, and it’s the perfect time to get your hands dirty and think properly about what you want next year. Here’s what I’d be doing in your garden this month.

Get the tulips in

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to plant tulips, this is it. Unlike crocus and narcissus, which like to go in earlier, tulips are happiest planted in November. Planting them later helps keep tulip fire (a fungal disease that can make a mess of them) at bay, and they’ll still flower beautifully in April and May.

The trick, as with all bulbs, is to be generous. A dotted handful of tulips looks like you ran out of enthusiasm. Plant them in big, overlapping drifts and they look like they’ve always been there. I like to stick to a tonal palette, so think deep plums, soft pinks and warm burgundies rather than a fruit salad of colours, then let the heights and flowering times do the work of keeping it interesting.

Plant them deep, roughly three times the height of the bulb, pointy end up. Tuck them between perennials that are still dormant, through the gaps in your borders, or into pots by the door where you’ll see them every day. In a seaside garden like many we work on in Brighton, a deep pot of tulips with a layer of grit at the bottom will cope with wet winters far better than a waterlogged one.

If you’re after a naturalistic look, this is where the magic happens. Our naturalistic planting design work is built on layers, and bulbs are the first layer of the year, the bit that sets the stage before everything else wakes up.

Plant bare-root and get things in the ground

November is the start of the bare-root season, and it’s one of the best-kept secrets in gardening. Bare-root trees, shrubs and hedging are lifted from the field while dormant and sold without soil or pots. They’re cheaper, they establish brilliantly and you get a far wider choice of plants than you’ll find in a garden centre.

If you’ve been thinking about a hedge to give you privacy, a small tree to give a border some height, or a few shrubs to hold the structure together, now is the time. Get them in the ground while the soil is still mild and damp, firm them in well and keep an eye on watering if we get a dry spell. By spring they’ll be rooted in and ready to go.

Think carefully about what the garden needs before you buy, though. Walk round and ask yourself a few honest questions:

Where does the garden feel empty now that the summer planting has faded?
Do you need height, screening or a focal point?
Would a hedge divide the space into more interesting areas?
Is there a corner that never gets used and could do with a reason to exist?

Those larger plants are the bones of the garden. Get them right and the seasonal planting has something to hang on.

Look after the lawn, lightly

By November the lawn is slowing down, and so should you. The main job now is keeping it clear of leaves, because a thick blanket of wet leaves sitting on the grass will cause yellowing and encourage moss and disease.

Give it a final trim on a dry day if the grass is still growing, and keep the blades a little higher than you would in summer. If the lawn is compacted, now is still a decent time to spike it with a fork to help the water drain, especially on heavy clay or in those low spots where puddles hang around after rain. Try to stay off it when it’s frozen or sodden, as you’ll just compact it and leave footprints that stick around until spring.

If your lawn is doing more harm than good, this is also a good time to ask whether you need as much of it as you have. Plenty of the gardens we design in Hove and Brighton have smaller, better-shaped lawns with deeper, richer borders around them. Less mowing, more interest, and a lot more life.

Turn those leaves into gold

Every year I hear the same complaint: you rake the leaves up, and a day later there’s another lot. Don’t bin them. Leaves are free soil conditioners, and leaf mould is one of the best things you can make for your garden.

It couldn’t be simpler. Gather the leaves, stuff them into a wire bin made from chicken wire and a few stakes, or into old bin bags with a few holes poked in them, and keep them damp. Then forget about them. After a year or two you’ll have a dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling material that’s perfect for mulching borders, improving poor soil or mixing into potting compost.

Shredded leaves break down faster, so if you’ve got a mower, run it over the pile first. And if you’ve got a bit of a woodland or shady corner, simply piling leaves under shrubs and trees gives you instant mulch and a cosy home for ground beetles and other garden helpers.

Don’t tidy everything away

This is the one I feel strongest about. There’s a strong temptation in autumn to cut everything back and put the garden to bed with military precision. Resist it.

Seedheads, ornamental grasses and sturdy perennial stems do a lot of good in the winter months. They feed birds, shelter overwintering insects and look absolutely stunning when a frost catches them on a cold, bright morning. A border full of frosted teasels and grasses is far more beautiful than a bare patch of soil, and it’s the sort of planting we love to design exactly for that reason.

By all means cut back anything that’s diseased, damaged or collapsing into a soggy mess. Otherwise, leave it until late winter or early spring, then give everything a proper tidy before the new growth arrives. Your garden will look better, and so will the wildlife.

Use the quiet months to plan

Here’s the bit I’d really like you to take away. November is the best time of year to plan a garden project.

Why? Because everything is on show. With the foliage gone, you can see the shape of the space, where the sun hits, where the shade sits and where the garden isn’t working. You’ll notice that the patio is in the wrong place, that the view from the kitchen window is a bit dull, or that there’s nowhere to sit in the evening sun. Those are the things that get hidden by summer growth, and they’re exactly the things a good design should solve.

Your November garden checklist

If you want the short version, here’s what to focus on this month:

Plant tulip bulbs, in generous drifts and in tonal colours.
Plant bare-root trees, hedges and shrubs while they’re dormant.
Keep leaves off the lawn and make leaf mould with them.
Give the lawn a last trim and fork over any compacted areas.
Leave seedheads and grasses standing for wildlife and winter interest.
Cut back only what’s diseased or damaged.
Walk the garden and make notes on what’s working and what isn’t.
Start planning any changes, so you’re ready for spring.

Make the garden work all year round

A good garden shouldn’t just look great in June. It should give you something to look at from the kitchen window in January, a reason to step outside in March and somewhere comfortable to sit in September. That comes from thoughtful structure, a planting scheme that changes through the seasons and a layout that suits how you live.

If you’re in Brighton, Hove or anywhere across Sussex and you’d like to make more of your outdoor space, I’d love to hear about it. Take a look at our garden design service or get in touch, and we can have a chat about what your garden could become.

Until then, plant some tulips, make a mug of tea and enjoy the quiet.