Herb · Apiaceae
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Give it rich soil, steady moisture, and a little patience at sowing, and parsley keeps the kitchen in fresh leaves.
Full sun
Every 2–4 days
50–75°F · 10–24°C
70–90 days
Overview
Parsley is the herb that pulls its weight in any kitchen garden, a carrot-family favorite grown for its bright, clean-tasting leaves. Pick from two main looks, the tightly ruffled curly type and the punchier flat-leaf Italian type, and the flat-leaf one packs the bigger flavor. Both take off happily in a bed or a pot on a sunny sill, so there is room to grow it just about anywhere.
Parsley plays a biennial game, and that shapes the whole plan. Year one goes all in on leaves, and that is the harvest to chase. Come year two the plant shifts into overdrive, shoots up a flower stalk, and the foliage turns tough and bitter, so most growers just fire up fresh seed each spring and keep the momentum going.
Once it is up, parsley cruises along on very little, but getting it up is where the patience comes in. That seed is famously slow and can take weeks to break ground, and the taproot below flatly refuses to be moved. Sow it where it will stay, keep the soil evenly moist, and it pays you back with months of cutting.
Care
The short version: full sun to part shade, rich well-drained soil kept evenly moist, and a steady monthly feed to keep fresh leaves rolling in all season.
Light
Parsley thrives in full sun yet rolls with partial shade, which makes it a handy pick for a spot that drops the afternoon light. Where summers crank up the heat, a little shade through the worst of the day keeps the leaves tender.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist and never let the plant run bone dry, which matters most in pots and through hot spells. Water every 2 to 4 days to hit the mark, but skip the waterlogging, since soggy roots roll out the welcome mat for rot.
Soil
Set it into rich, well-drained loam loaded with compost so it grips moisture without turning to muck. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 hits the sweet spot, sitting from slightly acidic to neutral.
Temperature
Parsley runs best cool to mild, powering along from 50°F to 75°F (10°C to 24°C). It laughs off a light frost, but a long hot stretch shoves it toward bolting and a bitter turn.
Humidity
Average humidity around 40% to 60% keeps parsley perfectly happy. Airflow does the heavy lifting here, since leaves stuck damp in crowded, still air are exactly where leaf spot gets rolling.
Feeding
Feed it monthly through the growing season with a balanced fertilizer or a side-dressing of compost. That steady push is what keeps fresh leaves firing after every cutting.
Pruning
Harvesting doubles as the pruning here, which is a win. Cut the outer stems at the base once the plant hits its stride, and regular picking drives new growth from the center. In year two, snap off flower stalks the second they appear to stall bolting a while longer.
Repotting
Potted parsley wants a fresh start about once a year, since that taproot fills a container in no time. Roots circling the soil, quick drying, and pale, stunted top growth all shout that it is time to move up or, more often, resow.
Size & spacing
Parsley keeps it compact, topping out at 8 to 16 inches (20 to 40 cm) tall with a spread of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm). Hand each plant that much room so air moves freely and the leaves dry between waterings.
When to plant
Parsley is cold-hardy and bolts out of the gate early. Kick off seed indoors in late winter or direct-sow in early spring a few weeks before the last frost, and you will be cutting leaves right through the first season. The flower stalk and seed show up in year two.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 8-10 weeks before the last spring frost
- Plant: Early spring, a few weeks before the last frost; parsley is cold-hardy
- Harvest: Harvest outer leaves once plants are full in the first year; flowers and seeds form in the second year
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Parsley is a good-natured herb, and most of its hiccups land on the leaves or trace back to soggy soil. Nail the few common signs and you can jump in early. Match what you see below, then move while it still counts.
Stems buckle at the base and the roots turn soft and dark
This one is stem and root rot, and it rides in on soil that stays too wet and drains too slowly. Once the base caves in there is no rescuing it, so yank the plant and bin it. Then fix that drainage before you replant, and ease right off the watering can for anything living in a pot.
Fix:
- Remove and discard affected plants
- Improve drainage before replanting
Tan to brown spots ringed in dark are marching across the leaves
That patterning is Septoria leaf spot, a fungus that jumps in the moment the foliage stays wet and the air turns muggy. It kicks off low and deep in the plant, then the spots widen and knit together the longer the leaves stay damp. Open the planting up for better airflow, aim your water at the soil line, and pull off any spotted leaves to shut it down.
Fix:
- Remove and discard affected leaves
- Improve air circulation by thinning plants
- Avoid overhead watering
A tall flower stalk rockets up and the leaves turn tough and bitter
This is bolting, and for parsley it is mostly just a biennial charging into its second-year plans, though heat and stress can fire it off early. There is no dialing it back once it starts, so run parsley as an annual, replant every spring, and harvest with gusto before that seed stalk climbs.
Fix:
- Start new plants from seed each year rather than maintaining biennials
- Harvest heavily before bolting
- Remove flower stalks to briefly prolong leaf production
Fat green caterpillars banded in black and yellow are munching the leaves
Say hello to the parsleyworm, the caterpillar of the eastern black swallowtail, and yes, it powers through the outer leaves fast. Pluck them off by hand if you must, but plenty of growers cheer them on instead, shifting them to a spare plant to finish the journey into butterflies. Sow a little extra parsley up front and there is always enough to share.
Fix:
- Handpick caterpillars if leaf supply is limited
- Relocate caterpillars to a sacrificial plant since they become swallowtail butterflies
- Cover plants with row cover if protection is needed
Toxicity
Parsley is a safe culinary herb for people, and a sprig on your plate is nothing to sweat. The one catch is the furanocoumarins it shares with the rest of the carrot family, which can hand pets and grazing animals an upset stomach or sun-sensitive skin once they tuck into a real quantity. Cats, dogs, and especially birds call for a lighter hand, so keep harvested bunches out of reach.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
One quick nibble barely registers, but a cat that scarfs a real mouthful can wind up with a queasy stomach and loose stools. Those furanocoumarins can leave the skin touchy in sunlight too, so park your bunches somewhere the cat cannot reach.
Dogs Mild
Most dogs breeze through small culinary bits of parsley without a hitch. Let one hoover up a big helping, though, and the same furanocoumarins kick in with drooling, an upset stomach, and skin that reddens or burns in the sun.
Horses Mild
A horse that grazes down a large stand of parsley can turn photosensitive, so light-skinned patches redden and chap after a spell in the sun. Reining in heavy grazing keeps that in check.
Rabbits Mild
A few leaves make a cracking little treat. Load on too much, though, and the furanocoumarins can churn up the gut, so keep parsley to an occasional share of the greens.
Livestock Mild
Goats, sheep, and cattle can pick up sun-triggered skin irritation where they graze parsley hard, though a lone plant out in the pasture rarely adds up to anything worth fretting over.
Birds Mild
Birds top the sensitivity list, so a light hand wins here. Even modest amounts of the concentrated furanocoumarins can stir up the gut and skin, so dish out parsley sparingly and never as a staple green.
People Safe
Parsley is a kitchen staple and totally safe to eat, so pile it on the plate. Wrangling huge quantities of the fresh plant in bright sun can leave sensitive skin prone to a rash, but that is a worker's hazard, not a mealtime worry.
Furanocoumarins can cause sun-triggered skin and eye irritation in animals that ingest substantial amounts; small culinary garnish quantities are typically low-risk.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
A handful of standout parsleys show up in gardens, sorted mostly by whether the leaves or the root is the prize. These are the ones worth knowing by name.
Curly parsley (var. crispum)
Those tightly curled, ruffled leaves make it a garnish champion and a smart pick for dressing up the front of a bed.
Italian flat-leaf parsley (var. neapolitanum)
Chasing flavor? Grab this one, since its flat, deeply cut leaves deliver the boldest taste of the lot.
Hamburg parsley (var. tuberosum)
Here is the rebel of the group, grown for its thick, parsnip-like taproot instead of the leaves up top.
How to propagate
Parsley kicks off from seed, and that is the route nearly every grower takes. The trick is teaming up with its slow sprouting and its flat refusal to be moved.
SeedModerate
Spring; start indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost or direct-sow when soil can be worked · About 3-4 weeks to germinate, plus several more weeks to establish
Parsley springs from seed, and it rewards a grower who packs a little patience. Fire it up indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost, or direct-sow the moment the soil can be worked, and count on 3 to 4 weeks to germinate plus several more to bulk up. Soak the seed overnight to jump-start sprouting. Because parsley drives a taproot and hates being moved, drop it where it will grow, or shift young seedlings with a gentle touch.
Myths
Parsley is a safe culinary herb, so it poses no risk to pets.
Garden parsley does carry furanocoumarins, the same family of compounds found across the carrot family, and a pet that eats a large amount can get an upset stomach or skin that burns in the sun. Small garnish-sized portions are low-risk, and the toxic 'spring parsley' on the ASPCA list is a different plant entirely, Cymopterus watsonii.
Parsley seed simply will not germinate.
It absolutely sprouts, it just takes its sweet time, and the wait can run to several weeks before the first green pokes through. Soak the seed overnight before sowing and you will nudge that sprouting along.