Planting guide

When to plant parsnip

Sweet winter roots, slow to sprout but nearly care-free once going. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 16–26 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 1.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means parsnip 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 parsnip

Use fresh seed; sow 1.5 cm deep in deep, loose soil.
Mark the row; germination takes 3 weeks.
Thin to 10 cm apart.
Dig after the first frost for the best flavour.

Parsnip varieties

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

Hollow Crown Classicheirloom · 17–24 wksOld British favourite, sweet after frost
Gladiator Classicdisease-resistant · 16–21 wksHybrid with strong germination and smooth roots
White Gem Classicsweet · 17–23 wksSmooth, canker-resistant white roots
Piana Adventuroussweet · 17–23 wksItalian type with long tapering roots

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

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

Good companions

Onion, Bean, Radish

Parsnip by month

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

More to plant

Potato · Carrot · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Swede

Not sure parsnip 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