Your plot month by month
Spring (at last!)
This site section is advisory only: conditions can vary widely from plot to plot (and year to year!), gardeners are a diverse and sometimes contentious species, and not everyone likes kale...
MARCH
(weather and soil conditions permitting)
Weed & feed over-wintered crops
Complete fruit planting and pruning (except for stone fruits which should be pruned after fruiting)
Sow in open:
Broad beans, cabbages, calabrese, kale, lettuce, bunching & main crop onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach beet, turnips, herbs (be mindful of birds, slugs and snails, and frost!)
Sow under cover:
Dwarf beans, beetroot, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, celeriac, leeks
Sow in heat: aubergines, peppers, tomatoes
Plant: Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, onion sets, first early potatoes, rhubarb plants (soil temperatures permitting)
Add manure to beds for later use
For detailed information and advice about seeds and seed saving, check out these links:
https://realseeds.co.uk/why seedsave.html
https://realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html
APRIL
(be careful of frosts)
Jobs:
Regular weeding, earthing up early potatoes if necessary, support early peas, continue preparing beds for sowing / planting, harden off seedlings started under cover / in heat, check flowering and setting of stone fruit blossom, protect fruit trees and bushes in flower from frost, plant late season strawberries
Sow in open:
Globe artichokes, beetroot, broad beans, sprouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, autumn and winter cabbage, calabrese, carrots, kale, leeks, lettuce, Japanese bunching and pickling onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, radishes, rocket, spinach beet, summer spinach, turnips
Sow under cover:
Hybrid broccoli, dwarf beans, late summer/autumn cauliflowers, celeriac, celery, runner beans, courgettes, cucumbers, kale, marrows, sweet corn, tomatoes
Sow in heat:
Aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, winter squash, tomatoes
Plant:
Asparagus crowns, brassica seedlings, onion sets, early and main-crop potatoes
Add manure to beds
MAY
(beware of late frosts!)
Jobs:
Harden off seedlings, protect seed beds from birds, watch out for slugs, snails and other soil pests, keep on weeding! Earth up early potatoes and protect shoots from frost, support peas (Go On You Peas!) mulch vegetables if beneficial, remove overcrowded growth on raspberry canes and apply mulch, protect strawberries from birds and mulch with straw, begin summer pruning of vines
Sow in open:
Broad beans, French beans, runner beans, beetroot, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, calabrese, carrots, lettuces, onions, peas, rocket, spinach beet, swedes, Swiss chard, turnips.
Prick out and pot up seedlings: aubergines, celery, celeriac, cucumbers, marrows, peppers, tomatoes.
Thin out: beetroot, carrots, lettuces, parsnips, radishes, spinach, turnip.
Sow / plant out under cover: asparagus, globe artichokes, beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, hybrid broccolis, cauliflowers, courgettes, cucumbers, kales, marrows, peppers, pumpkins, winter squash, sweet corn, tomatoes.
To see Your Plot: Summer, click here
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