How to Grow Good King Henry UK
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In the UK, good king henry goes in the ground early March to early May.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: sowing early March, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus)
Also known as: Lincolnshire spinach · 3 sources cited · Verified
When to Plant Good King Henry in the UK
When to plant good king henry in the UK: in Southern England, sow early March to early May. Find your area in the table below.
Quick Facts
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Good King Henry, an Ancient British Perennial Green
Plan your Good King Henry planting
When to sow and plant Good King Henry depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Good King Henry in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
References
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Well-drained, fertile, loamy soil rich in organic matter; add 2in aged compost or organic planting mix before planting, turning soil to 12in deep. Hardy to USDA zones 4-8, to -25°F/-31.7°C. Grows rapidly in ideal conditions, may need staking if it gets too tall. Harvest leaves as required to keep the plant compact and cropping well. Does not typically suffer pest/disease attack, though tender shoots can occasionally draw aphids, and slugs/snails may nibble seedlings or young growth, especially in damp conditions.
3 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow good king henry in the UK?
In Southern England, from early March. In Scotland, wait until early March. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow good king henry?
Sow early March to early May.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
Get the UK Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against RHS and Met Office guidance. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Last verified 2026-08-30
Plan Good King Henry by month
The months this guide gives for sowing or planting, each with the full list of jobs for that month in the UK:
More from the same group (leaves & salads):
Growing advice for your part of the UK
Timing and conditions change a lot inside one country. These guides cover frost dates and growing seasons region by region.
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.