Practical guides on growing vegetables, fruit trees, and managing a home garden — based on real experience, backed by research.
How frost has changed in 184 cities in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa: fewer frost days and a later first autumn frost in 2011-2025 than in 1981-2010, but no measurable change in the last spring frost.
What home-grown vegetables are worth at official retail prices in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, per plant, per 10 ft row and per m², with seed, plant, compost and water costs for year one and later years.
Midwinter kill temperatures for dormant fruit buds, wood and roots of apple, pear, peach, cherry, apricot, plum, fig, citrus, blueberry and grape, plus apple rootstock root LT50s.
How many people garden and grow food in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, what they grow and spend, and where 16 famous gardening statistics really come from.
How many years vegetable, herb and flower seeds stay viable, with germination decline over time from seed bank studies and the storage rules (Harrington, Ellis and Roberts) that change it. Every number sourced.
Years to first fruit, full crop and productive life for apple, pear, cherry, plum, peach, citrus and nut trees, by species and rootstock, with sources.
Typical and cautious last spring frost and first autumn frost dates for 219 cities in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, from Copernicus 1981-2010 frost data.
Expected yield per plant and per row for common vegetables and soft fruit from US extension services and the RHS, plus measured garden yields per square foot.
Days from sowing to harvest for 38 common vegetables, including indoor start lead times and direct-sow totals. Data from Leaftide's plant database.
Critical temperatures at which frost damages or kills fruit tree buds by growth stage, plus frost tolerance thresholds for 21 vegetable crops. Includes T10 and T90 kill temperatures.
Tbase and Tupper values for 22 common vegetables, sourced from Paredes et al. (2025) and OSU Extension field trials. Essential for GDD-based harvest prediction and sowing calendar tools.
Minimum, optimal, and maximum soil temperatures for germinating 30 common vegetables. Includes both °C and °F. Essential for timing seed sowing indoors and outdoors.
How much cold each vegetable needs to avoid bolting or bulb correctly. Temperature thresholds and minimum durations for onion, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, celery, carrot, beetroot, and more.
If you garden in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or South America, your seasons are reversed. Here is how Leaftide handles the calendar correctly.
A practical walkthrough of designing a garden layout from scratch. Satellite tracing, bed placement, plant spacing, and a 3D view of the finished result.
Blueberries need specific chill hours to fruit well. Learn the chill requirements for Southern Highbush, Rabbiteye, Northern Highbush, and Half-High varieties.
Peach trees need a specific number of chill hours to fruit well. Learn what your variety needs, find your local chill hours, and pick the right peach for your climate.
Cucumber spacing depends on whether you grow on the ground or up a trellis. Learn the right distances for rows, raised beds, and containers.
Learn how far apart to plant onions from sets, seeds, and transplants. Spacing by type, multi-sowing tips, and raised bed advice from real experience.
Learn how far apart to plant peppers for the best harvest. Spacing by type, method, and container size, from someone who learned by cramming them too close.
How far apart to plant strawberries depends on your growing system. Spacing for matted rows, hill systems, raised beds, containers, and more.
The right tomato spacing for every type and growing method. Determinate, indeterminate, raised beds, containers, and rows.
The best low chill peach varieties for warm climates. Chill hours, flavour notes, harvest timing, and growing tips from a gardener who learned the hard way.
Learn when to plant garlic in your climate. Autumn planting produces bigger bulbs, but timing depends on frost dates, variety, and region.
Learn when to plant onions from sets, seeds, and transplants. Timing by day length, frost dates, and region so your bulbs size up properly.
When to plant potatoes depends on your frost dates and potato type. First earlies, second earlies, and maincrops each have different windows.
When to plant strawberries depends on your climate, plant type, and whether you buy bare root or potted runners. Here is how to time it right.
Know exactly when to plant tomatoes based on your frost date and soil temperature. Indoor seed starting, transplanting, and regional timing.
A practical guide to identifying the most common vegetable garden pests, what damage they cause, and organic methods to control them.
A practical companion planting guide covering the science behind plant pairings and the combinations to avoid. Plan smarter beds this season.
A practical guide to starting your first compost heap. Greens, browns, what to avoid, and how to turn kitchen scraps into garden gold.
A month-by-month guide to UK garden tasks. What to sow, plant, prune, and harvest from January to December in a British vegetable and fruit garden.
How to multiply herbs and vegetables from cuttings, divisions, and runners. Practical propagation methods for edible gardens, with timing advice.
A practical guide to saving seeds from your garden. Which crops are easiest, how to process and store seeds, and why tracking what you grow matters.
How to understand, test, and improve your garden soil before planting. A practical guide to building healthy soil from someone who started with heavy clay.
Crop rotation works even in a small veg patch. A simple four year plan keeps your soil healthy and breaks pest cycles before they take hold.
How to train espalier fruit trees against a wall or fence. Covers forms, pruning, and why tracking each session matters more than technique alone.
How pollination groups work, which fruit trees pollinate each other, and how to avoid planting a tree that will never set fruit.
Rootstock determines how big your fruit tree gets, how fast it fruits, and where you can plant it. Here is what you need to know before buying.
Tracking what you harvest and how much changes how you plan next year. Here is the system I use to record yields without it becoming a chore.
How far apart should you plant fruit trees? A practical guide to orchard layout, tree spacing by rootstock, and designing a home orchard that works.
Find the best planting calendar for your zone. Generic monthly schedules miss your frost dates, soil temperature, and microclimate. Here is how to build one that actually fits your garden.
How to plan a raised bed layout that actually works. Bed sizing, orientation, path widths, and planting arrangements from someone who got it wrong first.
A practical indoor seed starting schedule built around your last frost date. Know exactly when to sow tomatoes, peppers, and brassicas indoors.
A practical guide to succession planting. Learn how to stagger sowings so you harvest fresh vegetables for months, not all at once.
Hands-on comparison of GrowVeg, Planter, Seedtime, and more. Which app handles fruit trees, raised beds, and real climate data — not just generic zones?
Your fruit trees need winter cold to fruit properly. Learn how to find chill hours by zip code, what the numbers mean, and which varieties match your climate.
Frost dates are the backbone of every planting schedule — but they're averages, not guarantees. Here's how to find yours and actually use them.
Spacing mistakes cost you harvests. Learn the right distances for vegetables, herbs, and hedges — plus when to break the rules.
Fig trees fruit on both old and new wood, which makes pruning timing tricky. Here's when to prune figs in every climate, from mild winters to zone 5 cold.
Learn when to prune apple trees for your climate. Winter dormant pruning, summer pruning for trained forms, and what biological signals to watch for.
Cherry trees must be pruned in summer, not winter. Learn when to prune sweet and sour cherries, why winter pruning causes silver leaf, and a calendar.
Peach trees need spring pruning, not winter. Learn the right timing window, why peaches differ from apples, and how to avoid peach leaf curl.
Pear trees are pruned in winter like apples, but their upright growth and spur-bearing habit mean a different approach. Learn the timing and key differences.
Plum trees should be pruned in summer to prevent silver leaf. Learn the right timing, how plums differ from apples, and tips for Victoria plum owners.
Berry bushes benefit from tracking, but most gardeners neglect them. Here is what to record for raspberries, blueberries, currants, and more.
Paper journals feel wonderful. Digital journals actually get used. Here's how to decide which is right for you — or whether to use both.
The first year determines whether your fruit tree thrives for decades. Here is exactly what to do, and why recording it from day one pays off for years.
Food forests are 20-year projects. This guide explains how to keep records that remain useful a decade from now, so you do not forget what you planted where.
Most pruning guides tell you how to cut. This one tells you how to record what you did, so you actually learn what works for your trees.
The most valuable entries in your garden journal are not the successes — they are the failures. Here is what to record when things go wrong, and why it matters.
Commercial orchard software is overkill for home growers. Here's a practical system for tracking your fruit trees without the complexity.
Perennials come back every year — but do you remember what's where? Here's how to keep records that survive winter better than your memory.
Most garden journals fail because they track the wrong things. Here's exactly what to record to actually improve your garden year after year.
Rose pruning timing for every UK region. When and how to prune Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Climbers, Ramblers, with RHS and David Austin techniques.
I used to wonder if I could book a holiday in August or miss the harvest. Now I see predicted harvest dates based on my climate, not a seed packet guess.
I kept meaning to document my garden but never did. Now I have a place to record every permanent plant, when it was planted, and what has happened since.
I used to walk past the same beds every day without seeing them. Then a nudge asked if my tomatoes had started flowering, and I noticed everything.
Seed packets said sow between March and June, but that never matched my garden. I wanted real dates based on my climate and how choices shift the season.
I used to lose track of what I planted and harvested. Now every event is logged with a date, and over time that history reveals patterns I never noticed.
Stop googling 'is it too late to plant tomatoes' every spring. Learn how climate-aware sowing windows give you a definitive answer for your garden.
Leaftide plans your garden around your frost dates and tracks what works.
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