Gardening in Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney

This is the region the old rules get most wrong. Lowland Inverness is the mildest mainland station we examined: milder than Edinburgh, because the sea moderates the coast and cold air drains off the hills. Nairn and the Moray coast share that mildness.

But the same region climbs into the Cairngorms, where frost runs weeks later; the upland figures use Braemar as the nearest long-record high station. Do not let "the Highlands are cold" cost you a Highland lowland spring.

Where this covers

• IV Inverness, the Moray Firth coast and Skye
• PH Perth, Perthshire and Lochaber
• KW Caithness and Orkney

Frost dates for Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney

• Lowland (coastal; Moray Firth, Caithness coast; under ~150m): last frost late April, first autumn frost late October, safe to plant out mid May.
• Upland (Cairngorms, Highland glens; above ~150m): last frost late May to early June, first autumn frost mid-to-late September, safe to plant out mid 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 Nairn and Wick Airport.

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, mid June on high ground in Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney. 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 115 days, so a greenhouse, polytunnel or cloches are the safer bet there.

Rain, sun and soil

Inverness has fewer air-frost days than Edinburgh or Aberdeen, about 38 a year against about 43 and 49, and a July mean daily maximum of 19.0°C. What it lacks is sun: about 1,250 hours a year, against about 1,450 at Edinburgh, with rain on about 148 days, though the yearly total is a moderate 755mm. Showery rather than wet, in other words.

Away from the coast, the Highlands are dominated by peat, peaty gleys and peaty podzols, especially on the wetter west side, so it is worth testing pH before you lime or plant. Orkney, covered with the Highlands on this site, is the exception: Old Red Sandstone under a fertile boulder clay.

Articles for gardens in Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney

• Frost Pockets vs Suntraps
• Keeping Deer Out of a Scottish Garden
• Gardening Around the Midge: Timing, Wind and What Actually Deters Them
• Growing Through the Dark: Shetland and Orkney's Six-Hour Winter Days
• Top 5 Crops for Exposed, Windy Gardens