Mid-to-late summer feels like the growing year is winding down. It isn't — it's just changing shape. The beds are full, but every crop you clear leaves a gap, and there's still enough warmth and light to fill it with things you'll be picking in October, November and beyond. The trick is picking crops that can genuinely mature in a shortening season, and being honest about the ones that can't.
Here's what to sow now, and what to leave for next year.
01The honest bit first: what's too late
Anything that needs a long, warm run is done for this year. Kale is the one that catches people out — the RHS window is March to June, so a late-July sowing won't bulk up before the cold. Winter brassicas like sprouting broccoli, plus maincrop roots and anything frost-tender, are also past their moment. Buy kale as plants if you want it, or wait for spring.
Everything below, though, is still fair game.
02Successional sowing, briefly
Successional sowing just means small, regular sowings instead of one big one — a short row every couple of weeks rather than a whole packet at once. It spreads the harvest, avoids gluts, and keeps young, tender leaves coming. From here on it also hedges against weather: if one sowing bolts in a late-summer heat spike, the next is right behind it.
Two habits matter more now than in spring. Choose fast or bolt-resistant varieties — the season is short and cooling, so speed wins. And respect the light. Growth slows sharply from late September as days shorten, so a plant needs to be well established before then. Late-summer sowings do most of their real growing in the next six to eight weeks; after that they mostly hold, ready to pick.
03Salad and leaves
This is the strongest category right now. The RHS recommends sowing corn salad, land cress and oriental salad leaves (komatsuna, mibuna, mizuna, mustard) in late summer and autumn for cut-and-come-again picking through autumn — and through winter under a cloche, coldframe or fleece.
Rocket can be sown outdoors to early September, and into a greenhouse border in late summer for winter picking; it bolts fast in heat, so give it light shade and water. Lettuce sown outdoors in early August, then covered with cloches from late September, gives early-winter hearts; a hardy type like 'Winter Density' is bred for winter cold and bolt resistance.
04Oriental and Asian greens
These actively prefer the cooling second half of summer. Pak choi grows best in spring and late summer/autumn rather than hot, dry midsummer — sow now and it's far less likely to bolt than a June sowing, and a late-summer sowing crops on in a greenhouse through autumn. Mizuna and mibuna sown in late summer will often crop into winter with some protection.
05Roots and spring onions
Radish is the quick win — salad radishes are happy sown in late summer, and true winter radishes (mooli, and mild long-storing types) are sown specifically in July or August. Turnips have a maincrop window of July to mid-August for an autumn harvest, and the tops make a bonus green. For spring onions, sow a hardy variety in late summer or early autumn now and you'll be pulling them next spring, well ahead of a spring sowing.
06Chard and spinach: the long game
A chard sowing outdoors in July earns its keep twice — a few autumn leaves, then a proper flush the following spring once growth resumes. It's hardy enough to sit out winter, and a cloche coaxes leaves in mild spells. Spinach for autumn and winter is sown from late summer into early autumn using hardy varieties; if it's still hot, delay a week or two for better germination, and cover with cloches or fleece from October.
07Herbs
Coriander is the reliable one: sow now and again in autumn under cloches or in a greenhouse to push leaf harvests into early winter. Keep it cool and watered so it doesn't bolt. Dill is more marginal — the RHS outdoor window runs only to mid-summer, so a late-July sowing is a gamble best made under cover, if at all.
08Or feed the soil instead
Any bed you're not replanting doesn't have to sit bare. Sow a green manure to protect and enrich the soil over winter: winter tares (July to September), grazing rye (August to November) or field beans (September to November), all dug in next spring. It's the productive way to rest ground — and it beats a winter of weeds.
And while you're planning: garlic goes in from autumn, so pencil in a bed for it now.
How we checked this
Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.
Sources: RHS: Vegetables — growing for winter · RHS: How to grow salad leaves · RHS: How to grow lettuces · RHS: How to grow rocket · RHS: How to grow mizuna and mibuna · RHS: How to grow pak choi · RHS: How to grow radishes · RHS: How to grow turnips · RHS: How to grow salad onions · RHS: How to grow chard · RHS: How to grow spinach · RHS: How to grow coriander · RHS: How to grow dill · RHS: How to grow kale · RHS: Green manures
Checked 19 July 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.