Planting guide

When to plant basil

Sweet summer leaves for pesto, pasta and salads; sow once the nights are warm. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Jan.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 4–6 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means basil can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant basil

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep on warm soil, or plant seedlings after the last frost.
Water at the base, not the leaves.
Pinch out flower buds so it keeps making leaves.
Pick from the top, just above a pair of leaves.

Basil varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Sweet Genovese Classicheirloom · mild · 4–6 wksThe classic pesto basil with large glossy leaves
Sweet Basil Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 4–6 wksReliable all-rounder for pots and beds
Greek Bush Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · fast · 4–6 wksCompact mounds of tiny leaves; ideal in a pot
Purple Ruffles Adventurouscolourful · 5–7 wksFrilly purple leaves; pretty in salads
Lettuce Leaf Adventurousgiant · mild · 5–7 wksHuge ruffled leaves, good for wraps