Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late February to late March, sow outside early April to early June, plant out early April to mid-June, and harvest late March to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late February to late March
- Sow outdoors
- early April to early June
- Plant out
- early April to mid-June
- Harvest
- late March to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 15 cm apart, rows 30 cm apart
- Square foot
- 4 per square (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- Ready in
- 30 to 45 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 30 cm
- Hardiness
- Hardy to about -20 °C
- Sun
- Copes with some shade
- Crops for
- Several years (perennial)
Growing tip
Cut clumps back to 5 cm a few times a season for fresh growth, and divide every few years.
Neighbours
Grows well with
Herbs are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
More herbs
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For chives, we used:
Grow chives with VegLog
Add chives to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
