Crops › Parsley
How to grow Parsley
in the UK
Sow March to April, plant out May, harvest June to October. About 75 days from seed to plate.
Parsley, now there's a proper kitchen garden staple, isn't it? Easy to grow, a cracking fresh flavour, and it just keeps on giving. Stick a few plants in and you'll always have some to hand for your cooking, like I do on the allotment.
Sowing
Parsley can be a bit slow to get going, to be honest, so don't despair if it takes its time. You want to be sowing your seeds in March or April. If you're starting indoors on a windowsill or in the greenhouse, sow them thinly in trays or pots, about 1 cm deep. For direct sowing outside, wait until the soil has warmed up a bit, usually late April, and scatter them thinly in a shallow drill. Keep the soil nice and moist, that's key for good germination. You can do a few small sowings a few weeks apart for a continuous crop, you know what I mean.
Growing on
Once your seedlings are big enough to handle, if you've sown indoors, carefully prick them out and pot them up into individual small pots. Let them grow on a bit, then harden them off for a week or two before planting them out. They'll be ready for the plot after the last frost, which is usually mid to late May up here in the North East. Space them about 15-20 cm apart. They do well in pots too, mind, so if you're short on space, give that a go.
Looking after it
Parsley likes a good drink, so keep the soil consistently moist, especially during dry spells. A bit of general purpose feed every now and then won't hurt, but they're not too demanding. Keep an eye on any weeds that pop up around them, they'll just compete for water and nutrients. Pinching off the outer leaves encourages more growth from the centre, giving you a steady supply.
What goes wrong
The main things to watch out for with parsley are aphids and slugs. Aphids can gather on the undersides of the leaves, so check regularly and just rub them off with your fingers or give them a good spray with water. Slugs love tender young growth, like most things, so keep an eye out and use your preferred method to deal with them. Planting marigolds or nasturtiums nearby can sometimes help keep pests away, too.
Harvest
You can start picking your parsley about 75 days after sowing, so from June right through to October. Just snip off the outer leaves as you need them, this encourages the plant to produce more. Don't take too much from one plant at once, though. If you end up with a glut, parsley freezes really well, just chop it up and pop it in a freezer bag or ice cube tray with a bit of water or oil. For short-term storage, a cool, dry place is fine, or pop it in the fridge.
I always try to get a few parsley plants going indoors early, then plant 'em near my tomatoes on the plot. Seems to work a treat, and I always have fresh parsley to hand.
Dates for your plot
Type the first half of your postcode and the plant-out advice shifts to your area's typical frost dates.
Varieties, and whether the club would grow them again
| Variety | Club verdict |
|---|---|
| Giant of Italy This is a proper big leafy one, great if you want loads for cooking. Sow it indoors to get a good head start on the season, especially up here in the North. | No club votes yet |
| Single Plain A straightforward plain-leaf parsley that does well straight in the ground. Good for beginners, easy to manage on the plot. | No club votes yet |
| Dark Green Italian A robust plain-leaf type, excellent for a constant supply of fresh leaves. Get this one going undercover to get a good strong plant. | No club votes yet |
| Gigante Catalogno Another cracking big variety, perfect if you need a lot of parsley for freezing or drying. Best started indoors to get it established properly. | No club votes yet |
| Titan This one's a good solid performer for direct sowing into the ground. Gives you plenty of leaves without too much fuss. | No club votes yet |
| Plain Italian A reliable plain-leaf parsley that gives a good crop. Start it undercover for a bit of an advantage, especially in cooler springs. | No club votes yet |
| Triple Curled This variety has lovely crinkly leaves, great for garnishes as well as cooking. Sow it indoors to get the best start for those pretty leaves. | No club votes yet |
| Moss Curled Another good curled variety, perfect if you're growing straight into the plot or a big container. It's a reliable performer outdoors. | No club votes yet |
| Festival This variety is a sturdy grower, producing plenty of flavourful leaves. Start it undercover and you'll be chuffed with the harvest. | No club votes yet |
| Champion A top-notch curled parsley, offering good yields of its distinctive leaves. Give it an indoor start to really get it thriving. | No club votes yet |
| Krausa This is a reliable variety for sowing directly into the ground, giving you a good crop of curled leaves. A good choice for the main plot. | No club votes yet |
| Forest Green A strong, dark green variety that performs well, giving you loads of flavour. Best sown undercover to encourage strong growth early on. | No club votes yet |
| Paramount A cracking curled parsley with a good strong flavour and plenty of leaves. Start this one indoors to get a real head start. | No club votes yet |
| Prezzemolo This plain-leaf variety is a good, dependable choice for direct sowing outside. It'll give you a steady supply of leaves. | No club votes yet |
| Lisette A vigorous variety, producing plenty of lovely leaves for your kitchen. Sowing it undercover helps get it established well for a cracking crop. | No club votes yet |
Votes are members rating varieties in their Seed Tin, one vote per gardener. Tap a variety for the full page and where to buy.
Buy Parsley seeds
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Cook the harvest
A bright, intensely green pesto built entirely around a generous heap of fresh parsley, blitzed with toasted walnuts, capers, garlic, and lemon. It coats pasta in minutes and tastes far more sophisticated than the effort involved. This is the dish to make when your parsley is bolting and you need to use the whole plant.
22 min · easyKuku sabzi is an Iranian herb frittata where the herbs are not a seasoning — they are the filling. The egg is almost incidental, just enough to hold together a dense, dark-green slab of fresh parsley, dill, and spring onions, fragrant with dried fenugreek and warm spice. It is eaten at Persian New Year for good luck, but it deserves a place on your table all summer long.
50 min · mediumGremolata — the classic Italian combination of parsley, lemon zest and garlic — is here worked into softened butter and pushed under the skin of bone-in chicken thighs before roasting. As the fat renders, it bastes the meat with herby, citrus-sharp butter, leaving you with burnished, crisp-skinned chicken sitting on a bed of creamy white beans that have absorbed all the cooking juices. It is straightforwardly brilliant.
65 min · mediumA vivid, intensely green soup that lets a full bunch of fresh parsley do all the talking. Sharp lemon and a little potato give it body without dulling the herb's grassy brightness. It is the kind of thing you make when your parsley plants are threatening to bolt and you want something genuinely impressive on the table in under an hour.
45 min · easyWatch for, and grow alongside
Companions: marigolds, nasturtium
Questions people ask
When do you sow Parsley in the UK?
Sow Parsley from March to April. Plant out May, after the last frost.
How long does Parsley take from sowing to harvest?
Roughly 75 days, with the harvest June to October.
Which Parsley varieties do gardeners grow again?
Club members rate every variety they grow. This page shows the grow-again votes for Giant of Italy, Single Plain, Dark Green Italian, Gigante Catalogno and more.
Track your Parsley from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.