Planting guide

What to plant in Perth, Australia in August

Mediterranean · Swan Coastal Plain Southern Hemisphere August

August is Perth's last reliably wet month — mild days, cool nights, and the final free watering the sky will provide before the long dry summer. The strategy is simple: get as much established now as possible, while the sandy soil still holds moisture, and start the warm-season crops for a September plant-out.

Plant now

Peas and snow peas

Final sowing of the season — they finish before the heat arrives.

Lettuce, rocket, spinach, silverbeet

Fast, reliable greens in the mild late-winter weather.

Beetroot, carrot, radish

Root crops love Perth’s light sandy soil — sow direct now.

Seed potatoes

Plant now to make the most of the remaining winter rain.

Tomatoes and capsicum (seed, or seedlings late in the month)

Perth’s coastal plain is close to frost-free — seedlings can start going out from late August in warm spots.

Timing notes

  • Perth sand drains and dries brutally fast — dig in compost and a soil improver now; it matters more here than almost anywhere.
  • The coastal plain is nearly frost-free but the Hills are not — Hills gardens should treat this as a cool-climate month and hold tender crops back.
  • Anything planted now establishes on free rain; anything planted in November establishes on your hose. Front-load the season.
← All planting guides