A free crop planner from the RHS
Month by month advice
| January | Continue digging and manuring if ground not too wet or frozen.Chit seed potatoes. Sow broad beans under cover. |
| February | In open ground sow broad beans, parsnips and plant shallots. Start rooting onion sets in trays of compost under cover. Sow peas, mangetout and beetroot under cover and tomatoes, celeriac and brassicas inside. |
| March | In open ground sow broad beans, summer cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, Savoy cabbage, parsnips and spinach. Sow under cover beetroot, early carrots, cauliflowers, leeks, lettuce, onions and peas. Plant chitted early potatoes. Plant out onion sets if rooted. Sow courgettes and squash inside. Sow sweet peas outside. Pot on tomatoes and keep inside. |
| April | In open ground sow beetroot, brassicas, carrots, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, peas, summer spinach, turnips and radish. Sow French and runner beans under cover. Plant out rooted onion sets. Plant chitted later potatoes.Harden off tomatoes in a green house or cold frame or plant out with protection in warm seasons, but watch out for night frosts. |
| May | Continue sowings of above for successional growing. In open ground sow French and runner beans, sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage, kale. Once risk of frost is past, plant out courgettes, squash and tomatoes with protection. |
| June | Sow more French and runner beans, radishes, marrows and peas.Plant out tomatoes, leeks and brassicas. |
| July | Sow French beans, spring cabbage, winter lettuce, swedes and turnips. |
| August | Sow winter lettuce, winter spinach and chard. |
| September | Sow spring cauliflower and winter lettuce. Plant over-wintering onion and garlic sets. Earth up leeks. |
| October | Thin winter spinach and spinach beet. Continue to earth up leeks. Cover autumn sown lettuce. Start digging, weeding and manuring open ground. |
| November | Sow Aquadulce broad beans for early crops next year. This sowing can be a gamble so provide winter protection. Continue digging.Sow sweet peas under cover for early flowering. |
| December | Continue digging and manuring if ground not too wet or frozen. |
Terminology:
Sow in open ground means outside.
Sow under cover means outside with protection from cold either with fleece, clear plastic or glass, ideally in a cold frame or in a green house.
Sow inside means inside the house. There are likely to be higher losses with direct sowings outside. Starting sowings off under cover or inside will have higher success rates.