Planting Calendar UK: When to Plant Fruit, Vegetables, and Perennials

When it comes to growing your own food and flowers in the UK, timing isn’t just helpful—it’s everything. A planting calendar, a seasonal guide that tells you exactly when to sow, plant, and prune based on UK climate zones. Also known as a gardening schedule, it’s the difference between a patch of weeds and a full harvest. The UK’s weather doesn’t follow a script. One year, spring arrives in February; the next, frost lingers into May. That’s why a reliable planting calendar isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s your best tool for avoiding wasted effort and missed windows.

It’s not just about putting seeds in the ground. A good calendar links fruit bushes, hardy shrubs like raspberries, blackcurrants, and gooseberries that thrive in British soil and need precise planting months with soil prep, frost dates, and sunlight patterns. It tells you why planting onions in March gives you bigger bulbs than waiting until June. It explains why strawberries can come back year after year if you cut them back at the right time—and why some gardeners swear by tossing an egg into the tomato hole for extra nutrients. These aren’t myths. They’re patterns backed by decades of UK gardening experience.

You’ll also find that perennial trimming, the practice of cutting back long-lived plants like lavender, hostas, and echinacea to encourage stronger growth is just as time-sensitive as planting. Trim too early, and you kill new buds. Trim too late, and the plant wastes energy on dying stems. And what about seeds? Can you plant 20-year-old ones? Should you soak them? The answers aren’t one-size-fits-all—they depend on the type of seed, the season, and where you live in the UK. That’s why this collection doesn’t give you generic advice. It gives you real, tested, location-aware guidance.

Whether you’re trying to grow your first tomato, wondering if your strawberries will return next spring, or just trying to figure out when to cut back your perennials, the articles below cut through the noise. No fluff. No theory. Just clear, practical timing tips for what actually works in British gardens. You’ll find month-by-month breakdowns, regional tips for Scotland vs. Cornwall, and even the science behind old-school tricks. All of it built around one simple goal: helping you grow more with less stress.