How to grow peas in the UK

Video by GrowVeg. This guide is based on “How to Grow Peas — The Simple Guide to a Fantastic Harvest” from the GrowVeg YouTube channel, one of the most-watched UK vegetable gardening resources online. Their straightforward breakdown of sowing, supporting, and harvesting peas is exactly the kind of practical advice that gets results in a British garden, where timing is everything and the weather is rarely cooperative.

1. Choose the right variety for your space

Garden peas come in three main types: shelling peas (harvest the seeds), mangetout (eat pods flat before seeds swell), and sugar snap peas (eat the whole plump pod). All three are straightforward to grow; it is really a question of what you like to eat.

Check the mature height of any variety before you buy. Dwarf types like Feltham First or Little Marvel reach around 45 to 60 cm and are ideal for containers or windier spots. Taller maincrop varieties like Alderman can reach 1.5 metres and need more substantial support but produce very heavily. For a first year, a shorter variety is the easier starting point.

2. Sow at the right time

Peas can go in from March through to June, with some early varieties hardy enough to try in October for a late-spring harvest. In the south east, March is usually a reasonable start — the soil just needs to be above 10°C for germination to get going properly.

Do not sow into cold, wet soil. If conditions are poor, sow into guttering or root trainers indoors and transplant outside once the seedlings are a few centimetres tall. That gives you a head start without risking the seeds rotting in the ground.

3. Sow in a flat-bottomed drill

Rather than a single row, peas do better in a wide flat drill around 20 cm wide and 5 cm deep. Space seeds about 5 to 7 cm apart in a zigzag pattern across the width. This gives each plant room to develop and makes efficient use of the support structure.

Cover with soil, water in gently, and protect immediately with netting or fleece. Mice will find pea seeds very quickly indeed. Pigeons are almost as fast once the seedlings emerge. Covering from day one saves a lot of frustration.

4. Put supports in early

Peas climb by sending out tendrils that grab onto anything nearby. Provide support before the seedlings need it — once they start collapsing over each other, it is difficult to untangle them without damage.

Pea sticks — twiggy branches pushed into the ground beside the row — are traditional and work very well. Wire netting or netting stretched between canes is a good alternative. Whatever you use, make it as tall as the mature variety you are growing. Undersized supports produce a tangled mess of plants fighting each other.

5. Water at critical moments

Peas are relatively drought-tolerant until flowering starts. Once you see flowers appearing, water regularly and generously — this is when pod set happens and water stress at that point will reduce your harvest significantly.

Water at the base of the plant, not overhead, to reduce the risk of mildew — peas can be susceptible later in the season if the foliage stays wet. A mulch around the plants retains moisture and suppresses weeds at the same time.

6. Harvest little and often

Check the plants every day or two once pods start appearing. Shelling peas should be picked when the pods are well filled but still bright green — leave them too long and the sugars convert to starch and the taste falls off noticeably. With mangetout and sugar snaps, pick when the pods are still flat or just starting to fill.

Picking regularly encourages the plant to keep producing. If you leave pods on the plant, it shifts its energy into ripening seed rather than making more flowers. A daily harvest is not an exaggeration when the plants are in full swing.

7. Clear and compost after cropping

Once a plant stops producing, pull it up and compost it. Peas fix nitrogen in root nodules, so leaving the roots in the soil gives a small nitrogen bonus for the next crop. Turn the roots back into the ground rather than composting them if you can.

Do not grow peas in the same spot two years running. Rotating crops reduces the risk of pea-specific diseases building up in the soil. Leave it at least three years before returning peas to any given bed.

When to call a handyman

If you are after help building raised beds for vegetables, setting up a more permanent support structure, or clearing and preparing a neglected patch of ground, Richard can help. Growing peas itself is very much a gardener’s job, but getting the infrastructure right first makes everything easier.