If you have ever stood in front of a packet of seeds wondering whether to sow them now or wait, this is the page for you. UK gardening is all about timing. Sow too early and seeds rot in cold soil. Plant out too late and crops do not have time to ripen before autumn. Get the timing right and most vegetables look after themselves.
This calendar covers the most popular UK vegetables across the whole year. Each colour shows what to do in each month. Light green for sowing indoors, dark green for sowing outside, blue for planting out, and orange for harvesting. Click on any crop name for the full month-by-month guide for that vegetable.
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Timings are based on an average UK garden. Adjust by a couple of weeks earlier if you are in southern England or later if you are in Scotland or northern areas. If you are not sure when frost is finally past in your area, our UK Last Frost Dates by Postcode guide is a useful reference before you commit anything tender to the ground.
Want to grow flowers alongside your vegetables too? What Flowers to Plant in May in the UK covers easy hardy annuals like nasturtiums and cornflowers that work brilliantly between veg crops.
UK Vegetable Planting Calendar
When to sow, plant out, and harvest the most popular UK crops
| Crop | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | ||||||||||||
| Carrots | ||||||||||||
| Potatoes | ||||||||||||
| Onions | ||||||||||||
| Garlic | ||||||||||||
| Beetroot | ||||||||||||
| Broccoli | ||||||||||||
| Cabbage | ||||||||||||
| Cauliflower | ||||||||||||
| Brussels sprouts | ||||||||||||
| Kale | ||||||||||||
| Leeks | ||||||||||||
| Peas | ||||||||||||
| French beans | ||||||||||||
| Runner beans | ||||||||||||
| Courgettes | ||||||||||||
| Cucumbers | ||||||||||||
| Sweetcorn | ||||||||||||
| Pumpkins | ||||||||||||
| Lettuce | ||||||||||||
| Spinach | ||||||||||||
| Parsnips |
Timings are guides for an average UK garden. Adjust by 2 to 3 weeks earlier in southern England or later in Scotland and northern areas. Click any crop name for the full sowing and harvest guide.
Getting the Seed for Each Month
Once you know what the calendar says you should be sowing, the next job is having the seed to hand, and the most common reason a sowing window gets missed is simply not having the packet in the tin. Thompson and Morgan keep a page for every month of the year showing what can be sown now, which is a useful cross-check against this calendar before you order:
- Vegetables to sow in January
- Vegetables to sow in February
- Vegetables to sow in March
- Vegetables to sow in April
- Vegetables to sow in May
- Vegetables to sow in June
- Vegetables to sow in July
- Vegetables to sow in August
- Vegetables to sow in September
- Vegetables to sow in October
- Vegetables to sow in November
- Vegetables to sow in December
A word of advice from experience: buy seed for the whole season in one order in late winter rather than a packet at a time through the year. It is cheaper, and it means the sowing window never passes while you are waiting for the post. If you are not sure who to order from, the best place to buy seeds in the UK compares the suppliers I actually use.