Gardening in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife

Scotland's most populous belt runs coast to coast from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and the lowland figures here, from Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, are among the mildest in the country.

But the belt also rises into the Campsies, Pentlands and Ochils, and those hills are a different climate. No open weather station sits on that high ground, so the upland figures borrow Eskdalemuir and are flagged low-confidence: read them as the shape of upland behaviour, not a local record.

Where this covers

• EH Edinburgh and the Lothians
• G Glasgow
• PA1-PA19 Paisley, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
• FK Falkirk and Stirling
• ML Motherwell and Lanarkshire
• KA Kilmarnock and Ayrshire
• KY Kirkcaldy and Fife
• DD Dundee and Angus

Frost dates for Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife

• Lowland (coastal; under ~150m): last frost mid-to-late April, first autumn frost late October, safe to plant out mid May.
• Upland (inland; above ~150m): last frost mid-to-late May, first autumn frost late September, safe to plant out early June.

Dates are rounded to the nearest half month, from named Met Office stations (1991-2020 averages). Lowland means under about 150m; upland is above that.

Checked against station records at Paisley and Leuchars.

What this means for growing here

Sow and plant out to these dates rather than a UK calendar, and remember they are regional averages. Your own plot can run two to four weeks later in a frost pocket, or earlier against a warm wall. If your garden is above about 150m, use the upland figures; below that, the lowland ones. The Planting Calendar turns these into a month-by-month plan.

When to plant out tender crops here

Frost-tender crops go outside only once the safe planting-out date has passed, about two weeks after the last frost: mid May on low ground and the coast, early June on high ground in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife. That applies to tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, sweetcorn, peppers, chillies and aubergines grown outdoors. That date is the earliest they can go out, not a promise they will ripen: on high ground the whole frost-free season is only about 130 days, so a greenhouse, polytunnel or cloches are the safer bet there.

Rain, sun and soil

At Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, rain averages about 730mm a year, falling on about 128 days, with about 1,450 hours of sunshine and a July mean daily maximum of 19.3°C. That puts the east end of the belt among the drier, warmer lowland spots in Scotland: Dumfries gets about 1,180mm. No station at the Glasgow end is used here, so treat these as east-side figures.

The Central Valley sits on brown earths and other mineral soils, the country's most productive farmed ground. Much lowland ground is still heavy clay that drains and warms slowly in spring, so raised beds earn their keep here.

Articles for gardens in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife

• You Just Got Your First Allotment
• Allotment or Community Garden? What Scotland's Law Actually Says
• Improving Clay Soil in Scotland
• Scotland's East/West Rainfall Divide: A Garden-Planning Framework
• Frost Pockets vs Suntraps