Growing Parsley in Scotland: The Complete Guide

Petroselinum crispum

Everything you need to grow parsley in Scotland, from a windowsill sowing in March to fresh green leaves through winter under a cloche. We have done the research so you don't have to.

Parsley is the herb that rewards patience. It germinates slowly, a month or more, often six weeks if the soil is cold, and a Scottish April is not warm enough to hurry it along. Start it indoors on a windowsill where you can watch it, and plant out when the seedlings are strong. Once parsley gets going, it produces steadily from late spring through to the first hard frosts, and it will stand through winter under cover. Flat-leaf parsley has the deeper flavour that earns its place in cooking. Curly parsley is the classic garnish. Both are the same plant, grown the same way. A row by the kitchen door gives you fresh green leaves for nine months of the year.

Why parsley suits Scotland

Parsley is a cool-weather crop. It grows best in spring and autumn, and a Scottish summer without extreme heat produces lush leafy plants rather than stressed ones that bolt to seed. The real Scottish advantage is winter. An autumn sowing, protected by a cloche or fleece, will stand through the cold and give you fresh leaves in March and April when little else is producing. Parsley is a biennial. It produces leaves in its first year, flowers and dies in its second. Treat it as an annual and sow fresh every spring, with a late summer sowing to carry you through winter.

Varieties

Flat-leaf parsley has no AGM and is still the standard cooking type: stronger flavour, easier to handle. Moss Curled and Bravour do carry the RHS Award of Garden Merit, a UK-wide award, not a Scottish one.

Also worth considering

Site and planting

Parsley wants full sun or light shade and rich, moisture-retentive soil. It is one of the few kitchen herbs that genuinely does not mind partial shade, which makes it the sensible choice for the bed that only catches sun for half the day. Dig in some garden compost before sowing. The germination is the hard part. Start seeds indoors in early spring, or sow outdoors from mid-spring through late summer. Sow in small pots or modules indoors, or make a drill 1cm deep outdoors. Parsley seed benefits from warm water poured along the drill before sowing. Sow thinly and cover lightly with soil. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings appear slowly.

Thin or transplant seedlings to 15 to 30cm apart. Sowing a new short row every few weeks through the season gives you a continuous supply. Plants will eventually bolt to flower in their second year. When they do, pull them out and sow fresh.

Care through the season

Water during dry spells. Parsley in dry soil bolts prematurely. A mulch of garden compost around the plants holds moisture and feeds the soil. Weed regularly while the plants are young. Once the leaves fill out, parsley shades out most competition.

Harvesting: cut the outer leaves close to the base, leaving the centre of the plant intact. Harvest regularly. The more you pick, the more the plant produces. Do not strip a plant bare. In a mild Scottish winter, parsley under a cloche will keep producing. In spring, the plant will send up a flower stalk. At that point, pull it and sow fresh. The leaves turn bitter once flowering begins.

Common problems

• Slow or failed germination is the most common parsley problem. The seed coat is hard. Warm water along the drill, or soaking seeds overnight, helps. Sowing indoors on a warm windowsill removes the cold-soil variable entirely.
• Bolting means the plant is running to seed in its second year, or responding to stress. Once a parsley plant sends up a flower stalk, the leaves turn bitter. Pull it and sow fresh.
• Carrot fly can affect parsley, which is in the same family as carrots. Fine mesh is the defence if you have carrot fly in your area. In practice, parsley in a border or pot is rarely troubled.

Common questions

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