How to Grow Parsley UK
On this page
In the UK, parsley goes in the ground early May to early August.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: sowing early May, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early May to early August
- Site
- soil pH 6–7.5
- Biggest risk
- Parsley virus diseases
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
9 sources cited · Verified
When to Plant Parsley in the UK
When to plant parsley in the UK: in Southern England, sow early May to early August. Find your area in the table below.
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Diseases
Pests
Parsley, a Kitchen Garden Staple
Plan your Parsley planting
When to sow and plant Parsley depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar, or the month-by-month guides that cover Parsley: December. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Parsley 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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Hardy BIENNIAL usually grown as an annual. 8in to 3ft; about a foot in the first year, 2-3ft in the second. Full sun or partial shade in consistently moist, well-drained rich soil; tolerates clay, loam and sand, neutral to acid pH. GERMINATION IS NOTABLY SLOW, so raising from seedlings is recommended over direct sowing. Space seedlings 8-12in apart after spring frost danger passes. Harvest by snipping the OUTSIDE stalks for continuous production, from about 8in tall. Flowers and seeds in its second year, and leaf flavour drops once it flowers. Problems: Septoria leaf spot, stem rot, carrot weevil, flea beetles, leafhoppers, tarnished plant bug. Also a host plant for swallowtail butterfly larvae (parsleyworm).
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RHS explicitly does not recommend pesticide use against aphids; recommends tolerance, manual squashing, and encouraging/purchasing natural predators (ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings, parasitoid wasps, earwigs) as biological control, especially under glass.
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Mirrors FAO Ecocrop. Fetched and parsed directly for the numeric soil pH range.
9 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 parsley in the UK?
In Southern England, from early May. In Scotland, wait until early May. 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 parsley?
Sow early May to early August.
What soil pH does parsley need?
A pH of about 6–7.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect parsley?
Our data links 2 diseases and 5 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
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.
Related Problem Guides
Last verified 2026-09-02
Plan Parsleys 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 (roots & tubers):
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.