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How to Grow Land Cresses UK | Regional Planting Calendar
Move through the SoilCommander growing library like a course: keep the navigation in place, open the next lesson, and build your garden plan step by step.
In the UK, land cresses go in the ground early March to late September.
Land cresses (Barbarea verna) — biennial.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: there are 4 separate regional sowing windows, ranging from early March in Southern England to early March in Scotland.
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural and university-extension sources — see References.
PlotMyGarden: sow direct outdoors from early spring through autumn; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and staggered sowing through the season is recommended regardless of region.
Midlands - detail & sources
PlotMyGarden: sow direct outdoors from early spring through autumn; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and staggered sowing through the season is recommended regardless of region.
Northern England - detail & sources
PlotMyGarden: sow direct outdoors from early spring through autumn; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and staggered sowing through the season is recommended regardless of region.
Scotland - detail & sources
PlotMyGarden: sow direct outdoors from early spring through autumn; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and staggered sowing through the season is recommended regardless of region.
Sow direct outdoors from early spring through autumn, thinly in drills about 0.5cm deep, rows 15cm apart; germinates in 7-10 days at 10-20C (PlotMyGarden).
Rosette establishment
1
Rosette of deeply-lobed, dark green leaves develops in full sun to partial shade; partial shade preferred in summer to avoid bolting (RHS, PlotMyGarden).
Cut-and-come-again harvest
3
Leaves are cropped nearly year-round with staggered sowings; avoid overhead watering to reduce fungal disease risk (PlotMyGarden).
Second-year flowering
6
In spring or summer of its second year, upright stems bear clusters of small yellow four-petalled flowers (RHS).
When to pick: RHS: "cropped virtually all year by staggering sowing dates"; plant outdoors "when large enough to handle (around 10in/25cm in height)". UMD: sow in March or September, "harvest at a few inches tall".
4 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 land cresses 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 land cresses?
Sow early March to late September.
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.
UK vegetable growing guides · Checked against RHS & Met Office guidance
Every SoilCommander guide is written and maintained by our editorial team for real UK growing conditions, and reviewed against Royal Horticultural Society growing advice and Met Office climate data before publication.
Sketch your exact plot shape, pick your UK crops, and get a spacing-accurate bed layout with companion pairings, a rotation plan and month-by-month sowing dates — every fact sourced from RHS and Garden Organic.
