The Garden Hand — A little more life, wherever you live.
Find my zonePostcode or climate zone

Australian planting calendar

What to plant in August in a Arid garden

Explore 62 core planting options for August in the Arid zone, with practical garden jobs and links to our growing guides.

These are broad climate-zone windows. Local weather, frost, soil conditions and your garden’s microclimate can shift timing. Check the plant guide before starting.

Find my zoneCreate My Garden

Not sure which zone applies? Find your zone before using this calendar. Want this tailored to your garden? Save your plants in My Garden.

Core planting options

The planting method matters: sowing seed and planting seedlings, tubers or nursery plants are different jobs. “Sow” means the underlying source does not specify direct sowing or trays.

Possible / shoulder planting options

These sit at the edge of the planting window and need more care with local conditions. They are kept separate from the core options.

In the garden in August

Use these jobs when the stated conditions apply in your garden.

Use winter for system maintenance

Test irrigation coverage, clear blocked emitters and keep winter settings matched to slower water use.

When this applies: Do not turn water off universally; established and new plants have different needs.

Year-round care

Check before watering

Check moisture around the roots and the rain forecast before watering. Water only where needed and follow local watering rules.

When this applies: Use the soil and plant needs to guide watering, rather than a fixed calendar interval.

How to do it

Water the roots, without wasting water

Only when the root area needs water. Prefer early morning, subject to local restrictions. Seeds and young plants need closer checks than established plants.

Decide whether your plant needs water

Before watering, after useful rain, and more often when plants are young or weather is hot or windy. This is a check, not a fixed watering schedule.

Sources and timing

Planting windows come from The Garden Hand’s existing planting calendar. Follow each plant link for its full growing guide. Garden jobs retain their existing zone, month and condition rules; year-round care is shown separately.