The month of November is great time to mulch plants for winter.  Mulching is a process where you build material up around the crown of a plant to insulate it from cold The month of November is great time to mulch plants for winter.  Mulching is a process where you build material up around the crown of a plant to insulate it from cold air temperatures and water loss from drying winds. You can use leaves, bark or compost to mulch.  I like to use compost because it's loaded with nutrients that will feed the plant over the winter for exceptional growth and bloom performance in the next growing season.

Plants that benefit from a good winter mulch:
Roses, Mimosa, Figs, Bigleaf Hydrangeas, Blackberries (including Marion or Boysenberries), Rosemary, Crape Myrtle, Blueberries, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Bigleaf Hydrangeas, Pampass Grass, and any plant that is experiencing nutrient deficiencies (yellow foliage at a time of year where the foliage color should be green).

If you have compost at home, great, use it.  If your like me and don't have a compost pile, you can use store bought compost.  I like to use either a the G&B Rose and Flower Planting Mix, G&B Harvest Supreme, or the G&B Farm Yard Blend for trees, shrubs and roses.  For acid loving plants like Rhodies, Azaleas, Blueberries and Blue Hydranges I like to use the G&B Acid Planting Mix. For shrubs I have found a 1.5 cuft bag of compost will cover about 6 plants mulch 3 inches thick and a 1 square foot area.  A 2 cuft bag will do 8 plants. For trees I do 2-2cuft bags of compost in a 4 foot area to reach 3 inches thick.

Not sure how to mulch? I filmed the Preparing Roses for Winter Video a couple of years ago to help out.