Planting guide

When to plant chervil

Delicate aniseed leaves for eggs and fish; a cool-season herb that bolts in heat. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Sep.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 15 cm
Depth: 0.3 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means chervil 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 chervil

Scatter seed on moist soil and barely cover; it needs light to sprout.
Sow where it will grow; it dislikes being moved.
Give shade in warm weather to slow bolting.
Sow a little every 3 weeks in the cool months.

Chervil varieties

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

Plain Chervil Classicheirloom · mild · 6–9 wksFine, fern-like leaves with a gentle aniseed flavour
Curled Chervil Classicpot-friendly · mild · 6–9 wksFrilly leaves, pretty as a garnish

Where to buy seeds

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Chervil by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Basil · Thai Basil · Parsley · Coriander · Dill · Chives

Not sure chervil is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now