March, April, and May are the time to prepare your garden for a bountiful spring and set yourself up for months of fresh garden-to-table eating.
With 2025 recording Melbourne's hottest autumn on record, it's more important than ever to choose heat-tolerant varieties and provide adequate shade and water for your plants. In autumn, it's also time to plan which flower bulbs and shrubs you can plant to get that splash of colour in the spring.
At All Green Nursery & Garden, we have seasonal seeds, bulbs, and seedlings to plant in autumn in our nursery. You'll also find all of the garden tools you need to prepare for a bountiful spring garden.
Vegetables to plant in autumn
Autumn is ideal to plant vegetable seedlings and any seed vegetables that you want to harvest from your garden in a few months.
Many green leafy vegetables grow best when planted in cooler weather.
- In March, you can start by planting carrots, leeks, rocket, and bok choy.
- Early autumn is the best time for brassica vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower.
- In mid-autumn, you can plant beetroot, brussel sprouts, spinach, and radish.
- As autumn ends in May, it's time to plant peas, sweet peas, garlic, and Jerusalem artichokes.
Brassica vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower prefer plenty of nitrogen. Using rich compost or manure helps these seedlings grow into strong and healthy plants. Applying a layer of premium garden blend or quality mulch around your vegetables will help retain moisture, suppress weeds, and gradually break down to feed the soil throughout the growing season.
Check out our Vegetable Planting Guide to learn more about which veggies to plant in every season.
Which autumn vegetables grow from seeds?
Vegetables that grow best from seed tend to give results quickly, so plant these seeds for vegetables you can eat through the autumn and winter.
Leafy greens like rocket, spinach, pak choi, collards and lettuce grow best from seeds planted in autumn and sheltered from strong sunlight.
Radishes are one of the fastest-growing autumn vegetables. Planting radish seeds in any month of autumn will give you plants within just a few weeks — all you have to do is keep the soil moist and aerated. Spinach is another fast-growing vegetable that will grow edible leaves quickly, especially large-leafed varieties.
Onions are another autumn vegetable that is best grown from seeds. Various onion styles will be ready to eat at different times, so planting a variety will give you options for your cooking throughout the season. While you wait for the crop to mature, you can snip at the leafy green tops at any time to use as an addition to salads and other dishes.
Starting a herb garden in autumn
Autumn is the best time to plant herbs — you can grow herbs even if you live in a small space! They grow fastest when propagated from stem cuttings, but you can also grow them from seeds.
Herbs that grow from cuttings include rosemary, lemongrass, oregano and thyme. Basil is also best grown from cuttings taken from a tasty plant with a strong flavour.
You can get herb cuttings from a friend or even cut a section of a herb plant purchased at the supermarket. Green cuttings will grow better than older brown stems. Cuttings from a healthy herb plant with good flavour will produce plants that have the same delicious taste.
Other herbs are best grown from seeds, such as parsley, coriander and dill.
Shrubs and flowers to plant in autumn
A vibrant garden in springtime requires a little autumn planning.
March, April, and May are the optimal times to plant cuttings of shrubs and flowers. Plants can establish themselves through the winter before the growth period of spring.
Geraniums, succulents and banksias can all be propagated from cuttings and then planted in potting mix in pots or your garden.
Bulbs to plant in autumn
The autumn months are the best time to plant bulbs such as daffodils, freesias and jonquils.
Late in the autumn, when the soil is cooled, is the time to plant tulips. Tulip and daffodil bulbs like to be placed deep — a general rule of thumb is to plant bulbs twice as deep as the bulb is high. The pointy side of the bulb should point upwards.
Tulips like to be in a sunny location. Daffodils thrive in full sun or dappled shade, such as under a deciduous tree. Tulips and daffodils can grow either in the garden or in a pot. Wide, shallow containers with good drainage and high-quality potting mix will give the best flowers.
Potted plants for autumn gardens
Container gardening is perfect for autumn planting, especially for renters or those with limited garden space. Potted plants also allow you to move your plants to protect them from unexpected late-season heat waves or early frosts.
Vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and radishes thrive in large containers with good drainage. Herbs are particularly suited to pot culture and can be moved closer to the kitchen for easy harvesting. Use quality potting mix specifically designed for vegetables and herbs to ensure optimal growth.
The best flowering potted plants are camellias, cyclamens, pansies, primulas, and native grevilleas, all providing excellent sustained colour.
Our recent article can tell you more about keeping potted plants alive and well all year round.
Tip from our team
I always save my eggshells for the garden – they're brilliant natural pest deterrents! I crush them up into rough pieces and scatter them around vulnerable seedlings. The sharp edges create a barrier that snails, slugs, and caterpillars hate crawling over.
Plus, as they break down, they add calcium to the soil. It's one of those old-school tricks that actually works, and it feels good turning kitchen scraps into garden gold!
