October 2026 · Manchester planting calendar

When to sow, plant and pick in Manchester.

Planting dates calibrated to real frost history for Manchester, not a generic UK calendar.

Your garden in When to Plant

A place for everything you’re growing.

Turn planting dates into a plan for your own patch. Create a garden to keep your plants, next jobs and growing notes in one place.

Create your garden

Start free with up to 5 active plants.

  1. Keep your plants together

    Add what you’re growing, from a few pots to an allotment.

  2. Know what to do next

    Follow growing steps timed to your garden’s location.

  3. See how your garden grows

    Tick off jobs and add notes as you go, from sowing to harvest.

Calibrated to Manchester

Two dates set the growing year in Manchester.

Every sowing, planting-out and harvest window on this site is worked out from the average last spring frost and first autumn frost in Manchester, taken from 30 years of Met Office records, and what each plant can put up with.

They're averages, not promises. A late frost can still flatten your courgettes, so keep an eye on the forecast. That's gardening.

Where the dates come from →

Average frost dates for Manchester

Average last spring frost
around 17 Apr
Average first autumn frost
around 8 Nov
Average frost-free days
≈ 205

Same tomato, different towns

  • Penzance

    average last frost around 23 Mar · about 247 frost-free days on average

    Sow indoors February, plant out April, harvest June to November. Typical frost risk November to March.

  • Manchester (your town)

    average last frost around 17 Apr · about 205 frost-free days on average

    Sow indoors March, plant out May, harvest July to November. Typical frost risk November to April.

  • Edinburgh

    average last frost around 4 May · about 165 frost-free days on average

    Sow indoors March to April, plant out May to June, harvest August to October. Typical frost risk October to May.

Met Office HadUK-Grid · 30-year averages

From the blog

10 Aug 2026

UK Drought 2026: How to Keep Your Garden Alive (Even With Hosepipe Bans)

Hosepipe bans don't mean a dead garden: what to water first, how to stretch every litre, and what's still worth planting.

 Read the blog →

Find a plant for Manchester.

Search by name, or browse what's in season above. Every date stays worked out for Manchester.