FREE CANADIAN TOOL · CALCULATED FROM YOUR LAST FROST
Spring Garden Checklist
Pick your city and get every spring job, dated — worked out from your own average last spring frost.
What should I be doing in the garden this spring?
Almost every spring job is defined relative to last frost: onions and celery start indoors about ten weeks before it, tomatoes six to eight weeks before, cabbage and broccoli transplant out two to four weeks before it, and tender crops only go out after it. Because last frost runs from mid-March on the BC coast to late May on the northern Prairies, those dates only mean anything per city. Pick yours and the tool works out each deadline from Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals.
Pick your city above to see your spring schedule.
How these dates are worked out
Every job is pinned to your average last spring frost, taken from Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals. The offsets are ordinary Canadian practice: onions, leeks and celery want ten to twelve weeks indoors, peppers eight to ten, tomatoes six to eight. Cool-season crops — peas, spinach, radish — go in as soon as the soil can be worked, and cabbage and broccoli transplant out before the frost date rather than after. Tender crops wait a week past last frost, and basil waits another week beyond that: it suffers below 10 °C even without a frost. Mulch waits until the soil has warmed — mulching early keeps soil cold and stalls warm-season crops.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start seeds indoors in Canada?
It depends on the crop and on your last frost: onions, leeks and celery ten to twelve weeks before it, peppers eight to ten, tomatoes six to eight. Because last frost runs from mid-March on the BC coast to late May on the northern Prairies, the actual date varies by more than two months across the country. Pick your city above for yours.
When is it safe to plant tomatoes outside?
About a week after your average last spring frost, once the soil has warmed. The last frost date is an average, so half of years frost after it — hence the wait. Cold soil stalls tomatoes even without a frost, so nothing is gained by rushing them out.
When should I clear leaf litter in spring?
Later than most people do. Native bees and ladybirds overwinter in leaf litter and hollow stems, and emerge once temperatures are reliably above 10 °C. Clearing on the first warm weekend destroys that pollinator population right before your garden needs it.
When is the soil ready to work?
Use the squeeze test: take a fistful of soil and squeeze. If it holds together in a tight ball, it's too wet. If it crumbles when you poke it, it's ready. Working saturated soil compacts it for the entire season, so waiting a week is cheaper than the damage.
Where do these dates come from?
Your city's average last spring frost, from Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals. Every task is calculated from that date rather than stored, so nothing goes stale — if a city's frost date is corrected, the whole schedule follows.