At a glance
Parsley is one of the most widely used culinary herbs in UK kitchens and one of the most satisfying to grow yourself. Fresh parsley has a brightness and depth of flavour that the dried version entirely lacks – once you have cooked regularly with fresh parsley from the garden, going back to the dried jar feels like a significant step backwards. It is also a genuinely useful plant in the garden itself, providing ground cover, attracting beneficial insects when allowed to flower in its second year and acting as a host plant for swallowtail butterfly caterpillars in parts of the UK.
The main challenge with parsley is germination – the seeds are notoriously slow and erratic, and many gardeners have given up on it after a disappointing first attempt at sowing. Understanding why germination takes so long and what conditions it needs makes the process much more reliable. Once past the germination stage, parsley is genuinely straightforward to grow and maintain alongside the other kitchen herbs covered in our guide to growing herbs in a small space.
Curly vs flat-leaf parsley
There are two distinct types of parsley in common cultivation in the UK, and they differ significantly in both flavour and use. Understanding the difference helps you choose the right type for your needs – or grow both, which is the approach most serious cooks take.
For cooking purposes, flat-leaf parsley is the superior choice – the stronger flavour survives heat better and contributes more to cooked dishes. Curly parsley is better as a garnish and holds up better through a UK winter. Growing one of each gives you the best of both throughout the year.
Sowing parsley from seed
Parsley seed is notoriously slow to germinate – 3 to 6 weeks is normal, and waiting 8 weeks is not unheard of. This is not a failure of the seed or the grower. Parsley contains compounds that inhibit germination, which in the wild help the plant time its germination for the right conditions. Understanding this prevents the common mistake of abandoning the pot and discarding seed that was about to germinate.
Two things speed up germination reliably. First, fresh seed germinates significantly faster than old seed – use seed from the current year where possible. Second, soaking the seeds in warm water for 24 hours before sowing softens the seed coat and washes out some of the germination inhibitors, typically cutting germination time by a week or two.
Sow indoors from February to April in modules or small pots of fresh seed compost, 5mm deep. Keep at 18-21°C – a warm windowsill or propagator works well. Do not let the compost dry out during the long germination period. Once seedlings appear, move to a bright position and grow on until large enough to handle before transplanting. Parsley does not like having its roots disturbed, so module-growing with minimal root disturbance at transplanting gives better results than pricking out from a seed tray.
Sow two batches six weeks apart for continuous harvest. A March sowing gives plants ready to harvest from June. A second sowing in late May produces plants that take over harvesting through autumn and carry the supply through winter. This simple succession approach ensures fresh parsley is available almost year-round from two small sowings.
Planting out and position
Plant out hardened-off seedlings from May once the risk of frost has passed, spacing 20-25cm apart. Parsley prefers a position in full sun to partial shade with moist, well-drained, moderately fertile soil. It tolerates more shade than most herbs and is one of the few that performs reasonably in an east-facing position that receives only morning sun.
In containers, parsley grows well in pots of at least 20cm diameter with free-draining compost. It suits window boxes and trough planters where several plants can be grown together. Keep container-grown parsley consistently moist – it dries out faster than open-ground plants and wilts quickly in hot weather. Situating containers in partial shade during the hottest part of summer helps retain moisture and prevents bolting.
Watering, feeding and care
Parsley prefers consistent moisture – it does not thrive in very dry conditions and will bolt prematurely if allowed to dry out repeatedly. Water regularly during dry spells and mulch around plants to retain soil moisture. In containers, check daily in hot weather and water whenever the top centimetre of compost feels dry.
Feed with a balanced liquid fertiliser every two to three weeks through the growing season to maintain lush, productive growth. Parsley is a hungrier plant than drought-tolerant herbs like thyme and responds well to regular feeding with noticeably larger, more productive leaves. Remove any flower stems that appear immediately – once parsley starts to flower (bolt), the leaves become progressively more bitter and the plant puts its energy into seed production rather than leaf growth.
Harvesting parsley
Begin harvesting when plants have at least five to six healthy stems and are well-established. Cut outer stems at the base with scissors, always leaving at least three to four stems on the plant to maintain vigour. Taking from the outside and working inward encourages the plant to produce new growth from the centre. Never remove more than a third of the plant at one harvest.
Parsley is best used fresh – the flavour diminishes within hours of cutting. For short-term storage, stand stems in a glass of water in the fridge like cut flowers, which keeps them fresh for up to a week. For longer storage, chop finely and freeze flat on a baking sheet before transferring to a bag – frozen parsley retains considerably more flavour than dried and can be added directly to hot dishes from frozen.
Overwintering in the UK
Parsley is a biennial – it lives for two years, producing leaves in its first year and flowering and setting seed in its second before dying. In a mild UK winter it often survives outdoors, providing fresh leaves through the coldest months when little else is available. Curly parsley is more reliably winter-hardy than flat-leaf. In exposed gardens or during particularly hard winters, covering plants with a cloche or fleece from November provides useful protection.
Second-year parsley will flower in spring regardless of harvesting. Once a plant bolts and flowers, the leaves become very bitter and the plant is effectively spent. Allow some plants to set seed if you want self-sown seedlings – parsley self-sows freely and self-sown plants are often the most vigorous in the garden. Remove all other bolting plants and replace with fresh seedlings from a new sowing to maintain continuous leaf production through the season.
Common problems
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