Garden Maintenance Calendar

Who this is for

A year of garden jobs on one page. Each month has a line for the work you intend to do, a tick box for when it is done and a notes column for what actually happened, so next year's calendar starts from this year's record.

Anyone with a garden, allotment or yard who wants the year's jobs written down in one place rather than remembered in the wrong month.

What this helps you track

• The jobs you have decided to do each month, in your own words
• Which of them actually got done, and which slid into the month after
• Notes on weather, pests and timing that are worth having next year
• A starting point for next year's calendar that is based on your garden, not a generic list

How to use it

1. Write the garden or plot and the year at the top.
2. Against each month, write the jobs you plan to do — pruning, sowing, clearing, servicing — in whatever order suits your climate and plants.
3. Tick the month off when its jobs are finished, or write in the notes column what was left undone and why.
4. Keep the sheet through the year; the notes are the useful part when you come to write next year's.
5. The browser version saves in your own browser and prints the same page; on paper, pin it in the shed or by the back door.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why are the month rows empty?

Because what to do in March in one climate is a February or May job in another, and it also depends on what you grow. The months are printed; the jobs are yours to write in.

Can I use it for a single plot or bed?

Yes. Write the plot name at the top and keep one sheet per area if the garden is large. Twelve rows per sheet is the limit on paper, so small handwriting helps for a busy month.

Is there a version that suggests the jobs?

The garden maintenance calendar tool on this site lets you pick areas and builds a list to edit. This printable is the blank, dated version of the same idea.

What goes in the notes column?

Whatever you will want to know next year: a late frost date, when the first pest appeared, a job that turned out to be two weeks early. The tick box records that it was done; the note records what you learned.