Gardening with the moon in November 2026: the works calendar

November is the last big working month before winter: the moon is descending until the 11th, ascending from the 12th to the 25th, and the month ends on a rare configuration — full moon and perigee 24 hours apart. Here is the complete November 2026 calendar and what the lunar-gardening tradition recommends.

The astronomy of November 2026

Moon phases (Paris time): last quarter on the 1st (21:28) · new moon on the 9th (08:02) · first quarter on the 17th (12:47) · full moon on the 24th (15:53).

Do not garden:

• 3 November — lunar node at 04:00
• 13 November — apogee at 18:45 (moon furthest from Earth)
• 17 November — lunar node at 12:45
• 25 November evening — perigee at 21:53, the day after full moon
• 30 November — lunar node at 04:30

The coincidence of full moon (24/11) + perigee (25/11) is the same configuration as in December: traditional calendars reserve these days for observation rather than work.

The month's three windows

5-8 November: the great root window (descending moon)

Three and a half root days on a descending moon — the month's planting window. Tradition reserves the descending moon for everything that settles into the ground: this is the moment for bare-root fruit trees and shrubs, roses, strawberries (very end of window) and, in mild regions, the last shallots.

12-25 November: the ascending moon opens protected sowing

From the 12th the moon turns ascending — the period for sowing and grafting in this tradition. Outdoors, sowing season is over; what can still be done is done under cover: the guides place Michaux-type coastal peas under glass or tunnel around 20 November. On seed days of the ascending moon (evening of the 22nd to morning of the 24th), it is the month's sowing window.

19-22 November: three leaf days before the full moon

A long leaf window on the ascending moon: harvest winter leaf vegetables and finish stowing protections before the full moon of the 24th and perigee of the 25th.

The month's jobs, outside the lunar calendar

• Orchard — the month's building site. This is bare-root fruit-tree and bush planting month; fig too (or in spring after frosts). Fruit-tree pruning, though, is not November work: it belongs to the heart of winter.
• Winter protection. Earth up and mulch artichokes, cut back and mulch perennials (straw or dead leaves), earth up roses, bring in geraniums and summer bulbs (last dahlias until mid-November), mulch frames and seed boxes on cold nights while opening them on fine days.
• Harvests. Last late apples and pears, salsify, spinach sown in September, endives to cellar for forcing.
• Soil and tools. Digging and manuring empty beds, tool maintenance — the guides devote the month to it. It is also the right time to know your soil's pH before any amendment.

Beware common wisdom: lamb's-lettuce and spinach sowings are already past (they happen in late summer); garlic and onion sets have no November window in the established guidance we follow — only the shallot keeps an autumn planting, for mild climates (elsewhere, it is March); cold-frame sowings begin in January-February.

To go further

• Lunar calendar, week of 19-25 October — the previous week's detail
• Understanding the biodynamic garden calendar — the full method (root/leaf/flower/fruit days, ascending and descending moon, what science says)
• Gardening with the moon — the day-by-day calendar for the whole year

All times given are the real astronomical instants, Paris time. The recommendations belong to the lunar-gardening tradition, not scientific consensus. Published calendars may show different times: each rounds the inadvisable slots in its own way.