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Australian planting calendar

What to plant in May in a Cool garden

Explore 19 core planting options for May in the Cool 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.

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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 May

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

Save autumn leaves

Collect fallen leaves for leaf mould or compost, and keep them out of roads and stormwater drains.

When this applies: For gardens experiencing autumn leaf fall; retain useful leaf litter where it is not likely to wash into drains.

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

Turn fallen leaves into leaf mould

When healthy leaves fall in your garden. Keep useful habitat litter where it is safe to leave it; clear paths and places where leaves could wash into drains.

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.