pruning

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master Gardener ^SM volunteer of Durham County (aka the Accidental Cottage Gardener)

November. The ninth month of the year, right? Well, it was until a couple of Roman egos got in the way. I reckon they wanted to be remembered as balmy and pleasant and that’s why they didn’t just tack July and August on to the end of the year. Egos—bleh.

So, it is the eleventh month and should probably be Elvember. Named after the elves who live under all the mushrooms we would see if it should rain. You remember rain, right? No? It’s that wet stuff that used to fall out of the sky. (Not snow! That’s COLD and wet and much less desirable.)

November is also a month of holidays. We start with election day, then Veteran’s Day (thank you for your service, fellow vets), after which we have Thanksgiving for four days in the middle of which is Black Friday. Oh, yes, it is a holiday. You ask my Aunt Helen.

A vibrant flower garden featuring an array of colorful blooms, including zinnias and yellow flowers, surrounded by greenery and rocks, under a clear blue sky.

Accidental Cottage Garden border going strong as the end of the year approaches. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The Accidental Cottage Garden (ACG) looks pretty darn good considering we’re in month 14 (less July) of a drought and it’s November. Perennial gardens aren’t supposed to look bright and perky in November. Many of the perennials in the ACG have succumbed to the change in day length (the diurnal effect) and will reappear in the Spring. There are a few stout souls who refuse to be defined by day length or drought, for that matter.

A garden area featuring a mix of flowering plants with yellow and pink blooms, adjacent to a blue house.

More Accidental Cottage Garden borders still flowering even as they start to senesce. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The hardy ageratum or mist flower (Conoclinum coelestinum) has been spectacular this year. It has managed to fill the right-of-way ditch in front of the house. African marigolds (Tagetes erecta) have competed with the ageratums to see which one can cover the most square feet. Ageratum is ahead by a quarter of a ditch. Both plants will have to be reined in next year. My most dependable friend in the garden is the gallardia (Gallardia pulchella). It starts blooming in mid-June and it is still hard at it. They will continue until a killer frost bursts all their cell walls.

A cluster of yellow wildflowers growing near a rocky area surrounded by trees.

Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia) in the Accidental Cottage Garden. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The other long-blooming plant still kicking is black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta). We love the variety of yellow/brown/black combinations they display. If you are really into yellow, have I got a plant for you. Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia). She is YELLOW!! And she is tall (6-8’). There’s a stalk or six rough goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) still showing color, but the stars of the circus have been the annual (prolific re-seeders!) zinnias (Zinnia elegans) and cosmos (Cosmos bipinnata) that I sowed seeds for in May. They have been the proverbial riot of color since August. We have had continuous cut flower arrangements all Summer and Fall.

A vibrant garden filled with colorful flowers, including zinnias in shades of pink and orange, against a backdrop of trees and a clear blue sky.

Many colors of zinnias (Zinnia elegans) providing blooms into November. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

I guess I have prattled on about long enough. I suppose you are reading this to find out what can/should/might be done in the garden in poor misnamed month (in the middle of four misnamed months). Here ‘tis.

LAWN CARE

Leaf removal is job #1. If your lawn consists of warm season grass (Bermuda, zoysia, centipede), that’s about all you need to know. These grasses will soon be going dormant not to be heard from until spring.

Should you have cool season grass (tall fescue, bluegrass, perennial rye) you are still mowing (3”-4”) and either bagging or mulching clippings and leaves (preferably the latter). Bagged debris should be composted. The landfill doesn’t need them.

If you overseeded or started a new lawn, be sure it gets ½” of water twice a week at a minimum.

FERTILIZING

Pretty much zilch here. You can add lime to correct a low pH (<6.0) at a rate indicated on the SOIL TEST results you received from NCDOA. (Come on! They’re still free until the end of the month, y’all.) Lime is best incorporated into the soil as it doesn’t move through the soil to the root zone very well.

PLANTING

Have I ever mentioned “FALL IS FOR PLANTING” before?

Trees and shrubs can be transplanted this month.

It is not too late to plant spring-flowering bulbs (daffodils, tulips, crocuses, etc.) but try to complete this task before the end of the month.

One-year-old asparagus crowns can be transplanted now.

Ahh, the perennial garden. Any day now, if it hasn’t happened already, Jack Frost or his insidious sibling Harriet Hardfreeze will drop in for a visit and finish any destruction not previously inflicted by Minerva Moisturestress. After that you need to ignore what your grandmother told you about cutting back the dead stems. There may well be native solitary bees or other beneficial insect eggs in or on those stems. Leave them, please. Try to overcome your OCD (I did. Well, not yours. My own.) and think of them as winter interest.

A close-up image of a shiny black bee perched on a wooden stump, surrounded by blurred green foliage.

Small carpenter bee nesting in sumac stem. (Image credit: Heather Holm)

Dead or diseased wood can be trimmed from trees and shrubs. When removing entire branches make the pruning cuts at the outer edge of the branch collar (the flair at the base of the branch) to promote quicker healing.

It is a good time to clean up the rest of the garden and landscape in general. You can yank weeds and other undesirable plants (the definition of a weed) and toss ‘em in the compost pile.

SPRAYING

If you’ve been doing battle with lace bugs all summer hit ‘em with a good dose of horticultural oil and put the sprayer away…well, clean it first, of course. (Might I suggest moving the offending azaleas to a less sunny location in the yard. They are an understory plant and are stressed when in full sun thereby inviting the lace bugs which prefer stressed plants. That’s your cause-and-effect lesson for this month.)

OTHER ENTERTAINING, ENLIGHTENING AND ENCHANTING ENDEAVORS TO ENJOY IN PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA IN AUTUMN

Take a leaf hike in your neighborhood or local park.

Make a leaf pile for your kids or grandkids to play in.

Invite the neighbors over for an evening around the firepit. Hot cider and donuts are not optional.

Enjoy the last few user-friendly days of 2026. They are numbered at this point.

May you have a wondrous Thanksgiving shared with people you love.

Resources and Additional Information

Provide Nesting Habitat for Native Bees Through Plant Stems in Your Garden: By NC Extension Agent of Chatham County, Debbie Roos
Build a Bug Snug Durham EMG blog on supporting insects over winter in the garden
General Pruning techniques: Pruning Trees and Shrubs from NCSU

Edited by Astrid Cook Dail, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

By Kathryn Hamilton, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

A ripe heirloom tomato, showcasing its greenish-brown striped skin, with two slices cut to reveal its juicy red interior and seeds, resting on a white cutting board.

Behold the star of the 2026 Tomato Trial: the striking Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye slicer with its port-red and olive-green stripes. Growers and tomato lovers alike know that its good looks are second only to its complex flavor. It was also the variety used in our first tomato trial, testing grafted against ungrafted tomatoes, and we thought the comparison might be interesting. (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton)

Exactly one month after we planted 40 Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye tomatoes for this year’s tomato trials, members of the tomato team watched in shock and awe as Durham County Extension Agent and project leader, Ashley Troth, pruned every plant to a single leader removing an average of 30% to 50% of the plant. “I’d rather hurt your feelings than the plant’s,” she said. “In the end, we’ll have bigger tomatoes, and more importantly, healthier plants.”

In this year’s project we are comparing three different root treatments to test their effectiveness on both production and longevity. The results will be compared both to an earlier trial where grafted tomatoes out-performed un-grafted, and to our “control” tomatoes which did not receive a root treatment.

A collection of colored plastic tags arranged in groups, featuring labels such as E1, E5, G2, M3, T1, and V6, laid out on a white surface.

Individual identification tags for each of the 40 Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye tomatoes in our trial. Tomatoes, we’ve got your number! (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton)

Five beds were each planted with eight tomatoes. Each bed had one of the following root treatments:

mycorrhizae¹
grafted root stock
vermicompost²
vermicompost and mycorrhizae
no root treatment

All plants were fertilized with Tomato-tone® according to package directions.

The protocol is to grow each tomato on a single leader. And while the team regularly pruned suckers, we clearly weren’t aggressive enough as almost every tomato ended up with a sucker that turned into a double leader. Ashley gallantly picked up the shears. “When you prune to single leader you have fewer flowers, but this also gives each tomato fruit a chance to really grow. You also really open up the airflow through the plant, which helps decrease the chance of disease. While the poundage put out by the plant will be the same, it will come in fewer but bigger tomatoes, and many people appreciate the larger fruit.”

Single-Leader Pruning on Tomatoes

What Is It?

Every tomato starts with a single stalk, but as it grows, suckers – small new shoots that grow out of the “V” space where a horizontal branch joins the main vertical stem – grow. Unpruned, the sucker will grow into a full-sized main branch with tomatoes of its own, creating a dense plant.

Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye is a vigorous indeterminate cultivar, and the big fruit also requires a longer time to ripen. In this case single-leader pruning, especially in a congested garden, makes sense. While we often prune to two leaders when tomatoes are trellised, a single leader allows tomatoes that are tied to individual stakes as they grow to have increased air flow and therefore decreased disease pressure. (However, it is not advisable for determinate varieties on which tomatoes ripen over a short period of time.)

Why Do It?

It creates a plant with only one “leader” or main branch that is easier to stake.
It encourages the plant to create fewer, but larger tomatoes.
It helps prevent fungal disease by increasing airflow.

How Is It Done?

Find the weaker of two leaders and prune. To avoid any cross-infection, sterilize your pruners between plants.

Close-up of a tomato plant showing green leaves and a stem. A hand is positioned nearby, and a blue arrow points to a specific part of the stem, which is supported by a dark stake and surrounded by burlap.

A person tending to a tomato plant in a greenhouse, with visible green leaves and sunlight filtering through the foliage.

(Left to right) Extension agent and project leader Ashley Troth boldly cutting the weaker leader of the plant. Immediately, the plant looks more open. (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton)

Identifying the Sucker

A tomato sucker is a small aggressive new shoot that grows in the “crotch” of a tomato plant where the horizontal leaf branch meets the main vertical stem. It grows out at a 45-degree angle. If left to develop, it will grow into a whole new branch capable of flowering and producing tomatoes.

Close-up of a tomato plant with curled, damaged leaves tied to a green support stake, set against a backdrop of burlap.

Close-up of a plant stem showing a forked growth with small buds, surrounded by green leaves and natural mulch in the background.

(Left) Discerning a sucker from a new main branch can be challenging as seen here in a tomato plant in the trial that had the main branch accidentally cut. (Right) Detail of new sucker forming. (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton)

The untrained eye can easily mistake a new main branch from a sucker as seen in this photo from our Tomato Trial. One month after the leader was accidentally trimmed, a new sucker has begun to form. It will eventually become the “leader.” But the severe pruning has definitely left the plant in a state of distress. We will follow this plant throughout the season.

The image below, clearly illustrates the difference between a sucker and new growth.

Illustration explaining how to identify suckers and new leaders on a plant, showing main stem, leaf branch, and developing leaves.

When pruning tomatoes, it’s critical to understand how to differentiate the main leader from a sucker. Pruning the main leader is not necessarily deadly but it can put the plant under stress. Production might also suffer. (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton via Google Gemini)

Rows of tomato plants supported by stakes in a garden bed, with burlap covering the soil.

And finally, a beauty shot of our new trimmed and slimmed tomatoes. (Image credit: Kathryn Hamilton)

Pruning isn’t just about aesthetics; it plays a major role in plant health. Disease resistance is the key to a plant’s longevity. Wet tomato leaves – from watering, rain, dew, or irrigation — are a breeding ground for fungal disease. Pruning creates better air circulation allows the leaves to dry to a point that reduces the environment for fungal spore germination.

If, like us, you have limited space and could use more “air” among your tomatoes, it’s not too late to create a single leader. It takes a bold heart. But you are likely to gain longer-lived plants and the bigger tomatoes that go with them.

Notes

1–Mycorrhizae are naturally occurring fungi in healthy soil, and they have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of many plants. These fungi absorb nutrients from the soil and transfers them to the plant. In return, host plant provides needed carbohydrates to the fungi. Home gardeners can purchase mycorrhizae amendments and even soil inoculated with the fungi.

2–Vermicompost is a nutrient-dense organic fertilizer and soil amendment that earthworms produce as they break down organic waste like yard trimmings and food scraps. You’ll often hear people refer to it as worm castings.

Resources and Additional Information

How to Achieve Peak Tomato Performance

Understanding Mycorrhizae

Vermicomposting Basics

Supporting Tomato Plants

2024 Tomato Trials

Edited by Melinda Heigel and Susan Sharp, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers of Durham County

Article Short Link https://wp.me/p2nIr1-7Es