What to Plant in May (UK)

May is the busiest, most rewarding month in the UK growing year. The soil is warm, the days are long, and almost everything can go in — but late frosts still bite in many areas, so hold your tender crops back until the end of the month. Here's your quick job list for May.

Use the planting calendar to fine-tune any of these dates for your part of the country, and see the full month-by-month guide for the year ahead.

Sow indoors

A last push under cover for the tender crops that hate cold soil. Keep them on a warm windowsill or in the greenhouse.

• Courgettes and squash — sow now for strong plants to set out in June
• Sweetcorn — sow in modules to plant out once frost has passed
• Cucumbers and pumpkins
• Basil — it loves the warmth and sulks outdoors too early

Sow outdoors

The soil has warmed up, so direct sowing comes into its own this month.

• Carrots and beetroot — sow little and often
• Peas and French and runner beans (beans from mid-May once soil is warm)
• Lettuce and other salad leaves — keep a steady supply going with successional sowing
• Radishes — ready in just a few weeks
• Sweetcorn and squash outdoors from the very end of the month, once frost risk has gone

Plant out

Wait until your last frost has passed before setting out anything tender — in much of the UK that's the last week of May.

• Tomatoes — into the greenhouse now, or outdoors at the very end of the month once hardened off
• Courgettes, cucumbers and peppers — only after the frost has gone
• Leeks — drop young plants into deep holes
• Brassicas such as kale, cabbage and broccoli raised earlier

Harvest now

The first proper pickings of the year arrive this month — the reward for all that spring sowing.

• Asparagus — at its peak; cut spears daily
• Rhubarb — pull stems while they're tender
• Early lettuce and salad leaves
• Radishes — your fastest, most satisfying crop
• The last of the spring purple sprouting broccoli

Jobs for May

A few quick tasks keep everything on track this month.

• Earth up potatoes — draw soil up around the stems of your potatoes as they grow to protect the tubers from light and frost
• Harden off your tomatoes and courgettes — give greenhouse-raised plants a week or two outdoors by day before planting out
• Stay on slug watch — soft new growth is a magnet for them
• Keep watering and weeding — warm, dry spells start now, especially for anything in containers
• Support peas and beans — get canes and netting in before the plants need them

May does a lot of the heavy lifting for the whole season, so spread the jobs across a few evenings rather than one exhausting weekend. New to all this? Start with our easiest crops for beginners and our guide to starting a vegetable garden. For the rest of the year, follow the month-by-month guide.