What to plant next – late summer to early autumn

We will probably have some plug plants available for the next week or so, but after that, the next chance to plant cabbages and brussels sprouts will be next spring. If you do choose to plant them now, you can expect them to grow really well between now and winter, with a harvest in mid-late winter. Keep them netted from pigeons and butterflies, protect from slugs and make sure you water them well during dry spells – they’ll do brilliantly!

(note: we will have spring greens and winter greens available to plant in autumn if you don’t have space to plant any cabbages now)

Mid-August is the last little window for planting these two beauties, and actually is a really good time to plant them as the weather tends to turn cooler which they love. You can expect them to grow well up until late autumn, and then you should see the heads forming later in winter or very early spring.

We usually have beetroot plants available into September, but if you’d like to grow them outdoors, then the quicker you can plant them, the better. They’ll benefit from the warmer weather and the longer daylight hours, and if you plant them now, in mid-August, you should easily be able to harvest them in November/December.

If you’d rather plant beetroot a little later, we’d really recommend planting them in September under a tunnel cloche or in a greenhouse/polytunnel rather than outside.

Our sprouting broccoli varieties can be planted anytime up until mid-October. Of course, the sooner you plant them, the more they will be able to grow before temperatures drop in December/January, and the earlier your crop will come in spring, but you can happily plant anytime over the next 6-8 weeks.

We’ve got leek plants available to ship now, and the sooner you plant, the better as they will have a decent chance to grow before winter. We will also have some available for planting in Sept/Oct although planting at that time usually means harvesting them as baby leeks rather than waiting for them to reach full size.

If you have space for some salad plants now, then grab some lettuces and leaves in the summer sale, plant them up asap and you’ll be able to harvest them through September and October. If you don’t have space yet, don’t worry, you can plant winter varieties in September and October instead.

These can all be planted now in late summer, or in early autumn, and we’ll have plants available for you to order at either point. They are all nice and hardy and will do well through autumn and winter, and most likely will keep cropping into spring as well. They are well worth adding to your garden in the next few weeks to keep things growing and to supply you with healthy greens during the colder months.

Take your pick with these root veggies – plant them up now, or wait until September/October. Either way, they can be an excellent choice to provide something non-leafy to harvest during the winter months, when there is often a mass of leafy greens cropping but not so much in terms of root veg.

We should have plants available in August and September, but the sooner you can get these into the ground, the more likely you are to get bulbs of a decent size to harvest in late autumn/early winter. They’ll benefit from having some extra compost added when you plant for a nutritious boost, and if you decide to plant them later, plant them under cover if you can to give them a little more warmth.

Be quick if you’d like to plant some extra peas – they will scramble up a support quite quickly and you should get some pods to harvest in late autumn.