What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Nov. 1–15): Final Fall Planting & Freeze Prep

Written By Colleen Dieter

November may still feel warm in Central Texas, but winter is on its way—and now is the time to prepare your garden before the first freeze arrives. In this episode of the ATXGardens Podcast, Colleen shares what to plant in early November, which plants need freeze protection, how to protect young trees from deer, and the gardening tasks you should stop doing as plants begin to go dormant.

You’ll also learn about late-fall fruit tree care, the last planting window for cool-season vegetables, herbs, perennials, and bulbs, what to do with all those fallen leaves, and how to prepare your lawn and equipment for winter.

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🦌 Protect Young Trees From Deer

November marks the beginning of antler-rubbing season, when deer may rub their antlers against trees with smooth bark. That includes newly planted trees as well as some mature fruit trees, crape myrtles, and palo verdes.

Deer may also be attracted to agaves and spineless prickly pear cactus, so now is a good time to protect vulnerable plants with:

  • Tree trunk guards

  • Small protective fences

  • Animal repellent granules

Animal repellents may also help discourage other critters from digging around newly planted areas.

❄️ Start Preparing Your Central Texas Garden for Freezes

Austin’s average first freeze is around December 1, but areas outside Central Austin may experience freezing temperatures as early as mid-November. That means now is the time to find your frost covers and make a plan for your cold-sensitive plants.

Consider getting ready with:

  • Frost or plant covers

  • A dolly, hand truck, or garden wagon for moving containers

  • A greenhouse or pop-up greenhouse

  • Traditional incandescent holiday lights for adding warmth around sensitive plants

And remember: watering plants before a freeze is even more important than covering them. Well-hydrated plants are better prepared to withstand freezing temperatures.

Which Plants Actually Need to Be Covered?

Not everything in your landscape needs protection.

Established Texas native plants will generally be able to handle normal winter temperatures without being covered. Instead, focus your attention on plants that are newly planted or not reliably cold-hardy in Central Texas, including:

  • Perennials planted within several weeks of a freeze

  • Citrus trees, including lemons and oranges

  • Tropical plants

  • Cold-sensitive Mediterranean plants

  • Non-native cacti and succulents

If you’re unsure, research the plant’s USDA cold hardiness zone before deciding whether it needs protection. Colleen will dive deeper into understanding USDA hardiness zones in the next episode.

🌳 Keep Planting Most Trees & Shrubs

Fall is still an excellent time to plant and transplant most woody plants in Central Texas.

Oaks, hollies, apples, pears, crossvine, Carolina jessamine, and many other trees, shrubs, and woody vines can continue to be planted because they’ll tolerate winter temperatures once they enter dormancy.

However, you may want to wait until March to plant some more cold-sensitive woody plants, including:

  • Figs

  • Loquats

  • Pomegranates

  • Bay laurels

  • Greek myrtles

If you already have one of these plants in a container, you can keep it potted through winter and move it indoors during freezes rather than risking cold damage before its roots become established.

Don't Prune or Fertilize Yet

Continue avoiding pruning on trees, shrubs, and woody vines. Pruning can stimulate tender new growth at exactly the time plants need to slow down and prepare for winter.

Skip the fertilizer for the same reason. You don’t want to encourage new growth heading into freezing weather.

🍂 Leave the Leaves—But Not Everywhere

Those fallen leaves can be valuable garden mulch and important habitat for beneficial insects, including fireflies.

Colleen recommends leaving approximately three inches of leaves in flower beds. If they become much deeper, move the extras to your compost pile or vegetable garden.

You should also remove leaves when they're:

  • Covering turf grass

  • Smothering smaller shade-loving plants

  • Covering gravel or pavement

An adjustable rake can be especially helpful when removing larger leaves from around smaller plants without disturbing the garden underneath.

🪚 November Is a Good Time to Remove Unwanted Woody Plants

Have a chinaberry, nandina, or another difficult woody plant you’ve been wanting to remove?

November is a good time to tackle it. As woody plants enter dormancy, cutting them back now can give you several months before they attempt to regrow in spring.

That makes late fall and winter a particularly satisfying time to start removing unwanted woody plants from your Central Texas landscape.

🍎 November Fruit Tree Care

First things first: stop fertilizing your fruit trees, especially citrus.

The goal now is to encourage trees to slow their growth and prepare for winter rather than producing tender new growth that can be damaged by cold temperatures.

Protect Fruit Trees From Fungal Disease

Once apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, and plums have dropped most of their leaves, it may be time for a dormant-season treatment to help manage fungal diseases.

Colleen discusses options including:

  • Copper fungicide

  • Lime sulfur

  • Bordeaux mix

She personally uses copper because it can also help manage some bacterial diseases, including fire blight, and recommends using a small handheld sprayer to keep the application concentrated around the fruit trees rather than spraying broadly throughout the landscape.

Should You Paint Fruit Tree Trunks White?

You may have seen fruit trees with their trunks painted white. There’s a reason for it!

Fruit trees such as peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, and plums have relatively thin, smooth bark that can be vulnerable to sunscald and damage from winter freezing and thawing cycles.

Colleen discusses using white latex paint diluted 50% with water on the trunks. The light color helps reflect sunlight and heat, almost like sunscreen for the tree, while also making some insect activity easier to spot.

🌸 Last Chance to Plant Perennials, Bulbs & Grasses

If you still have perennials, succulents, bulbs, or ornamental grasses sitting around in nursery pots, get them planted ASAP.

Early November is the end of the safer planting window because newly planted perennials need time to establish roots and store enough energy to survive freezing weather and return in spring.

Rather than buying more, focus on getting the plants you already have into the ground before freezing temperatures arrive.

📅 Upcoming Central Texas Gardening Events

Colleen also shares two upcoming opportunities to connect with other Central Texas gardeners.

On November 21, she’ll lead a free tree identification walk at Circle Acres in Southeast Austin from 10:00 AM to noon. Registration is encouraged through http://ATXGardens.com/events .

Then, mark your calendar for January 30—National Seed Swap Day. Central Texas Seed Savers will hold its annual seed swap at the Central Library in downtown Austin. The event is free, and you don't need to bring seeds to participate.

🥦 Last Call for Your Winter Vegetable Garden

Early November is your last chance to plant many winter vegetables with minimal risk of freeze damage.

You can still plant transplants of:

  • Broccoli

  • Brussels sprouts

  • Cabbage

  • Cauliflower

  • Collards

  • Leeks

  • Kale

  • Kohlrabi

  • Lettuce

Garlic can also go into the garden now and will continue growing through winter and spring before being harvested around June.

Direct Sow These Cool-Season Vegetables

You can still plant seeds directly into the garden for:

  • Fava beans

  • Beets

  • Turnips

  • Carrots

  • Kale

  • Kohlrabi

  • Lettuce

  • Mustard greens

  • Swiss chard

  • Arugula

  • Dandelions

  • Chicory

  • Radicchio

  • Bok choy

  • Mizuna mustard

  • Radishes

  • Spinach

The planting window is closing, so get those seeds into the ground soon.

🌿 Last Chance for Cool-Season Herbs

It's also getting late to establish cool-season herbs.

You can still direct sow:

  • Cilantro

  • Feverfew

  • Dill

  • Parsley

  • Calendula

  • Chamomile

Perennial herbs such as garlic chives, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, and lemon balm can still be planted from small transplants, cuttings, or divisions—but this is the end of the ideal planting window before cold weather arrives.

🌱 Prepare Your Lawn for Winter

If you maintain a turf grass lawn, fall and winter are good times to improve the soil by top-dressing with about ¼ inch of compost.

Compost adds beneficial microorganisms that break down organic material and make nutrients available to the grass. They also contribute to better soil structure, allowing roots greater access to water, nutrients, and air.

Don't Mow Your Grass Short in Winter

Put your mower deck on its highest setting.

Cutting dormant grass too short exposes sensitive parts of the plant to cold temperatures and leaves more open space where cool-season weeds can germinate. During winter, Colleen recommends mowing only when necessary to chop leaves or manage weeds—and keeping the grass tall when you do.

Winter is also a good time to service your lawnmower, sharpen or replace the blade, and drain the fuel if you use a gas-powered mower.

🌼 Don't Mistake Your Wildflowers for Weeds!

If you planted bluebonnets or other spring-blooming wildflowers this fall—or allowed last year's plants to reseed—you may start seeing tiny seedlings emerge.

Pay attention to what those seedlings look like before you start pulling “weeds.” Colleen recommends using the seedling photos available from Native American Seed at http://SeedSource.com to help identify what’s coming up in your wildflower garden.

🌵 Protecting the Big Bend Region

In this episode’s activism segment, Colleen discusses her concerns about recent border infrastructure activity in the Big Bend region and the potential effects of physical barriers, patrol roads, and related technology on an area she describes as exceptionally wild and biodiverse. She encourages listeners who want to learn more or oppose the development to use a petition linked in the show notes.

Listeners can also participate in the Big Bend Borderlands BioBlitz on iNaturalist through December 31. People visiting the region can document plants and wildlife they encounter, while those at home can participate by helping identify observations already uploaded to iNaturalist.

🔗 Resources, Products, Websites & Programs Mentioned

🌼 Stay Connected

For more Central Texas gardening advice, seasonal planting tips, and sustainable landscaping guidance, visit http://ATXGardens.com and follow Colleen on Instagram @‌ATXGardens_.

Colleen Dieter