Planting guide

What to plant in Sydney, Australia in August

Warm temperate Southern Hemisphere August

August is late winter in Sydney — mild, often sunny days with cold nights. Coastal gardens are essentially frost-free, which makes this a genuine planting month rather than a waiting month: cool-season crops go in now, and the spring warm-season crops get their head start on a windowsill.

Plant now

Peas and snow peasPisum sativum

Last good sowing of the season — they will crop in spring before the heat shuts them down.

Lettuce, rocket, silverbeet, spinach

Cool-season leafies grow steadily through late winter and are at their sweetest before summer.

Beetroot, carrot, radish, spring onion

Root crops and alliums establish well in the cool soil of late winter.

Seed potatoesSolanum tuberosum

August is the classic Sydney potato-planting month in frost-free areas — chit them first for a quicker start.

Tomato, capsicum, chilli (seed, indoors)

Sow on a warm windowsill in late August so seedlings are ready to plant out from late September.

Timing notes

  • Coastal Sydney rarely frosts, but the western suburbs still get light frosts through August — keep tender seedlings protected there until September.
  • This is the month to prepare spring beds: dig in compost now so soil is ready when the warm-season crops go out.
  • Late winter is also the traditional time to feed citrus and plant new fruit trees while they are semi-dormant.
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