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Do you live in subtropical SE Queensland? Are you trying to figure out what to plant each season?
My double-sided, laminated guide can help make your seasonal planting and gardening activities so much easier. I’ve put a barrow load of time, research and experience growing in this climate into creating this guide.
The Subtropical Planting Guide is a great value tool.

Who is this Guide for? It’s perfect if you:
- are a beginner or intermediate food gardener;
- struggle to understand what to plant and when;
- need help understanding seasonal growing conditions;
- want to know which pests and diseases to watch out for at different times of year;
- want to learn which garden tasks to do each season e.g. when to prune various crops;
- would like to know which edibles to plant all year around;
- want an easy-to-use reference guide to use year after year.
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Subtropical Planting Guide Features:
- Seasonal colour-coded sections to make it simple to use.
- Laminated for long-term, practical use indoors or out in your garden shed.
- Tick boxes so you can mark off each activity with a whiteboard marker pen [not included] and keep track of what you need to do.
- Each of the five seasonal sections provides typical climate conditions, sowing suggestions, garden tasks and common problems to watch out for.
- Includes a list of food crops you can plant year round and bonus seasonal tips to optimise your harvest.
- This attractive guide makes an economical gift that will last for years.
- Compact size for keeping on your fridge with a magnet [not included].
Product specifications: A4 size; double sided; laminated; full colour; waterproof.
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FAQ
How can I use the Subtropical Planting Guide each season?
The Guide has five seasons with the typical months they start and finish. Sometimes this slightly overlaps and the seasons don’t necessarily start on the first of the month and finish on the last day! e.g. Spring usually occurs over August and September but typical conditions may not start until mid-August. The Guide gives you a brief description on typical weather conditions to look for, so you can learn to be observant and pick up the clues when the season is changing. e.g. During spring there is typically an increase in pest insects after overwintering finishes. This enables you to plan for lots of grasshoppers hatching and put your controls in place before they damage your plants. Knowing what is going to happen when, gives you more control over your garden.
How do I use the ‘Garden Tasks’ suggestions?

These are easy reminders to help you complete important tasks that should be done each season to prevent problems. Each garden task has a tick box, so you can use a non-permanent whiteboard marker to check off when completed. This makes it simple to know you’ve got your bases covered. e.g. If you know that Spring is a time when you’re likely to experience drying winds, you can plan ahead and protect vulnerable plants from damage. Not sure when to fertilise or prune your fruit trees? How to prevent weeds? These tasks will help you time your activities to maximise success.
How will the ‘Sowing Suggestions’ help me?
This is a list of common edibles (vegetables, herbs and fruit) that you can plant confidently during the suggested season. Some foods will have a month in brackets indicating the ideal time during the season to sow. This is usually due to temperature changes in the weather and soil. Once you are familiar with planting edibles in the suggested seasons, you can learn to create microclimates in your own garden. This will help you extend the period in which you can grow some edibles. To make the most of this guide, it is recommended you also keep a Garden Journal. This will help you record observations in your own garden that are unique so you can build your knowledge year after year. I provide easy templates and worksheets you can use if you like the idea of a Garden Journal Planner & Workbook in a folder.
How do I use the ‘Watch Out For’ tips?
These are common pests to look out for each season. e.g. aphids, citrus leaf miner and scale. You can look ahead to the following month and know what’s likely to be appearing in your garden at that time. e.g. Knowing when the QLD fruit fly is commonly present, will enable to you install your baits and controls to prevent fruit loss and future infestation. Being prepared before pests appear will make a huge difference to your harvests and managing pest problems in your garden.

How do I use the ‘Edibles to Grow all Year Round’ suggestions?
These crops can be planted and grown all year in our climate, if you choose varieties suited to the season you’re growing in and select containers or microclimates to favour their preferred growing conditions. By checking the seasonal Sowing Suggestions, you will see the times they are most suited to and you can create these conditions in your own garden. See the Seasonal Tips section on the Guide which will help you implement these suggestions successfully. By subscribing to my newsletter and following my blog, you will also learn more about specific plants to grow throughout the year.
I have another question not answered here. Can you help?
Of course! Click on Discussion (just above this product description) and Leave a Comment with your question. You can also use the Contact Form to send your query.
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Question
Niel –
This looks very much like what I need. I have one question, does it apply to Montville? That is are conditions different on the Blackall Range?
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Admin Anne Gibson –
Hi Niel
Yes it DOES apply to Montville. In fact I live at Palmwoods just 10 minutes away and designed this guide specifically for the Sunshine Coast and SE QLD. I’ve been living here for 20 years observing the seasons and put the guide together as a local reference. Whilst we all have slightly different microclimates within the Sunshine Coast, (soils, temps etc), the seasons are the same. You can confidently follow the 5 seasons in this guide where you are. If you have the opportunity to come along to one of my free Seasonal Gardening workshops on at the moment at the libraries, you would likely get a deeper understanding of our seasons as I explain them in depth and what to plant locally. There are 4 left in September starting next week. Possibly Beerwah might be closest to you. Click here to book your free seat if interested. I hope this helps. Hope to meet you at one of the workshops if you can make it. Cheers Anne.
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Question
William –
Is there a digital version of the calendar?
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Admin Anne Gibson –
Hi William
Unfortunately no, not at this stage. That’s because this guide has been designed for reuse, year after year, so it’s laminated. For optimum benefit, it’s meant to be used with a whiteboard marker so you can circle the plants you want to buy or sow each month and cross/wipe off when purchased/planted. You can also do the same with the tick boxes for the various key garden tasks, to make sure important jobs don’t get forgotten. A buy once, use forever model is also in line with sustainable principles. It’s ideal to keep in your garden journal folder or on the fridge.
Please let me know if I can assist further William and thanks for your interest.
Cheers Anne
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Sandy Foster –
Love this easy to read go to sub tropical planting guide. At a glance I can see when and what to plant. Being laminated is such a bonus as it will never be damaged. Excellent value too. Thanks Anne for creating an easy to read guide
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Anne Gibson –
Thanks so much, Sandy for sharing your feedback on using the Subtropical Planting Guide. It packs a lot into a small space! So glad you’re getting good use from it.
Happy planting!
Warm regards
Anne
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Question
Sarah –
How many pages is the guide?
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Anne Gibson –
Hi Sarah,
The Subtropical Planting Guide has 2 sides (i.e. 2 pages) and is colour printed then laminated for long term use. It covers our 5 seasons and what to plant in each of them as well as handy seasonal garden tasks, pests to watch out for and typical weather patterns.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Anne
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Claire Q –
I’m brand new to the world of gardening and while my aspirations are high, my knowledge is not! I purchased this in the hope I’d get some guidance to get started and it does not disappoint. I feel so much more confident working out what to plant and when, and knowing it’s tailored to the climate I live in is an absolute bonus – no more getting lost down the rabbit hole of internet advice and more time spent in the garden!! I actually keep it in my car now in case I happen to be popping in to Bunnings for starter plants or go past a plant stand and need a quick reference (and for a quick glance at in between appointments when working out what garden tasks to focus on for the weekend). I love it so much I bought one for my Dad for Christmas – he’s a whiz in the garden when it comes to flowers but edibles are new terrain for him and he’s finding it very handy as well. I can’t recommend this highly enough – for anyone who wants to focus on the joy of gardening and not the angst of over researching how on earth to get started! I don’t bother with anything else now – it’s Micro Gardener all the way for me!
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Anne Gibson –
Hi Claire,
Thanks SO much for sharing your awesome experience with the Subtropical Planting Guide. So happy to hear you and your dad find it so useful. It’s designed to be used year after year by circling or underlining the plants you want to grow on the list each season and then wiping off after you’ve planted them. That way you can plan ahead and look forward to sowing plants at the best time and not forget to sow edibles that have a short season as well. You’ll also notice I include specific varieties of spinach for example, for summer vs cool season cultivars. We CAN grow leafy greens year-round but need to swap which ones! Make sure to click on the link for monthly tips for our climate in each newsletter. They’re uploaded as a PDF you can read and learn from to layer what to plant when as well as pests to watch out for during the year and how to handle those challenges.
Thanks again for such a great review. You’ve made my day. Happy planting.
Cheers Anne 🙂
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Ann Lloyd –
I bought the Subtropical Planting Guide because I wanted a quick, easy-to-understand planting guide for the 4 seasons I have where I live. Not only does it list “sowing suggestions” and “garden tasks” for each season, it has a list of what pests to look out for in each season.
I also purchased the Potting Mix Recipe Guide complete with instructions because I am not happy with the contents of pre-packaged potting mixes.
These products are the most useful of their kind that I have seen.
And they are such a time saver because of the way they are set out and they cover everything I think a gardener needs to know and that’s important for a novice like me.
Well done Anne.
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