August Gardening Guide: What to Plant and Do Across Australia
By Ewa Bekiesch, DipSustLiv (UTAS)
Holistic Gardens Designer | Healthy Food Advocate
YouTube & Instagram: @EwasVibes — Where every leaf holds a secret, and every root tells a story. Join the conversation!
Seeds, Cuttings & Plants: foodforestseeds.au
August in the garden… A happy, exciting, and busy time ahead! Well, we still have one month to go until spring officially arrives, but I can already feel its approach. The birds are singing their morning chorus and busily building new nests, duck families are emerging in our dams, and my mulberry trees are showing their first fresh growth of the season.
This transitional month brings so much promise for gardeners across Australia. Whether you’re in the tropical north, subtropical regions like my Fraser Coast food forest, or the temperate south, August offers wonderful opportunities to prepare, plant, and observe nature’s awakening.
I hope this guide helps you plan and organize your garden effectively, bringing you one step closer to growing an abundance of food and becoming self-reliant sooner rather than later. Let’s explore what to plant and do in your climate zone this August!
Tropical Gardens (Northern QLD, NT, WA)
Key Jobs This Month:
- Continue pruning fruit trees that have finished fruiting
- Prepare garden beds for wet season planting with compost and mulch
- Monitor for pests as temperatures begin to rise
- Start planning your wet season vegetable garden
What to Plant Now:
Veggies: Bush beans, cucumber, eggplant, pumpkin, zucchini
Herbs: Ginger, turmeric, galangal, Vietnamese mint
Fruits: Pineapple, custard apple, soursop
Tip: Take advantage of warming soils to get heat-loving crops established before the wet season hits.
Subtropical Gardens (SE QLD, Northern NSW) – My Garden Update
What I’m Doing This August:
In my Fraser Coast food forest this month, I’m:
- Starting spring seedlings in the greenhouse (tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants)
- Pruning citrus & deciduous trees & shrubs before spring growth starts
- Mulching around fruit trees and shrubs
- Dividing & transplanting overgrown perennials
- Harvesting winter crops like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower
Key Jobs This Month:
- Begin transitioning from winter to spring crops
- Start fertilising fruit trees as they come out of dormancy
- Continue building soil with compost and green manures
- Watch for early signs of spring pest activity
What to Plant Now:
Veggies: Tomatoes (seed), capsicum, eggplant
Herbs: Basil, oregano, marjoram, spring onions
Fruits: (at the end of August) Passionfruit, papaya, bananas
Temperate Gardens (Southern NSW, VIC, TAS, SA, WA)
Key Jobs This Month:
- Prepare vegetable beds for spring planting
- Prune roses and other deciduous shrubs before spring growth
- Start hardening off seedlings for spring planting
- Continue planting bare-rooted fruit trees
What to Plant Now:
Veggies: Early potatoes, peas, spinach, spring onions, leeks
Herbs: Chives, parsley, coriander, chervil
Flowers: Sweet peas, poppies, snapdragons
Tip: Use cloches or row covers to protect early plantings from late frosts.
Final Gardening Tips
- Everywhere: Begin increasing watering as temperatures rise
- Tropics: Start planning for cyclone season – stake young trees
- Subtropics: Watch for early fruit fly activity
- Temperate: Begin regular lawn care as growth resumes
If you would like to support my work, you can do so in many ways:
- Join my gardening and homesteading journey on YouTube – Subscribe today – it’s free!
- Leave a comment under the videos you watch
- Follow me on Facebook and Instagram @CuriousGardensAu
- Buy a plant, cuttings, or seeds at https://www.foodforestseeds.au
- Buy me a coffee, my PayPal: permaculturehaven@gmail.com
What spring preparations are you making this August? Share your plans in the comments!
Happy gardening,
Ewa Bekiesch
