Can you prune fruit trees in December?

Yes for the pip fruit trees, apples and pears, as long as you work outside any frost: tradition chooses the descending moon. The stone fruit trees, by contrast, are better pruned at the end of summer, their wounds coping poorly with the cold damp of winter.

What to harvest in the kitchen garden in December?

Leeks, Brussels sprouts, corn salad and Jerusalem artichokes, as you need them: tradition places the leaves on leaf days and the roots on root days. Frost isn’t your enemy everywhere: it even sweetens the Brussels sprouts and the Jerusalem artichokes.

In the garden · December

Gardening by the moon in December December

In December the garden sleeps, and that’s just as it should be. Lunar tradition gives the descending moon to pruning the pip fruit trees and to the last bare-root plantings, always outside any frost. The rest of the month belongs to harvesting the winter vegetables as you need them, looking after the tools, and planning the kitchen garden for the year to come, lunar calendar in hand.

The essentials

To sow: almost nothing outdoors: the soil rests; under mild cover, a few winter lettuces
To prune, to plant: pip fruit trees frost-free, bare-root trees if the soil isn’t frozen
To harvest: leeks, Brussels sprouts, corn salad, Jerusalem artichokes
Watchword of the month: observe, plan, let it sleep

What to do in the garden in December by the moon?

Even in the heart of winter, tradition’s swing stays the same: ascending moon for what rises (sowing, grafting, picking), descending moon for what descends (planting, pruning, soil). Only, December offers the ascending moon almost nothing: it’s a descending-moon month, of rare and chosen gestures.

In the descending moon, frost-free, you prune the pip fruit trees, apples and pears, and you can still plant bare-root trees if the ground lets itself be worked. The ascending moon keeps the everyday pickings: a leek, a handful of corn salad, a few Brussels sprouts that the cold has made sweeter.

Which crops to favor, and on which days?

The days of the calendar keep their dominant note, leaves, flowers, fruit or roots, according to the constellation the Moon is crossing. In December the leaf days pace the harvests of leeks, cabbages and corn salad; the root days, the lifting of Jerusalem artichokes, which you leave in the ground and dig as you go, their best cellar being the soil itself.

Fruit days serve the pruning of the pip fruit trees, since it’s the fruit it prepares. Remember the distinction that matters: pip fruit trees are pruned in winter, stone fruit trees (cherry, plum, peach) wait for the end of summer, because their wounds heal poorly in the cold damp.

The gesture of the month: drawing the year’s kitchen garden

December is the month of paper and pencil. Take stock of your seeds, note what worked and what disappointed, sketch the rotations: cabbages don’t come back where they were, legumes go before the hungry feeders. Then set your big appointments on the spring lunar calendar: that’s its real strength, turning a mountain of tasks into small dates.

The whole thing fits on a kitchen table, garden or balcony. While you’re at it, clean, sharpen and oil the tools: a clean pair of secateurs in spring means a tidy prune and plants that recover better.

What agronomy says

Trials have never validated any effect of the lunar day on the healing of a prune or the establishment of a planting: frost-free, a clean tool and a tidy cut do all the work. The value of the calendar is in the rhythm it installs: it brings you back to the garden every week, and it’s the gardener’s regular eye that changes everything.

The lunations of December (exact dates)

Calculated from the ephemeris, in London time, and rechecked every night. Each lunation has its own detailed page.

Frequently asked questions

Can you prune fruit trees in December?: Yes for the pip fruit trees, apples and pears, as long as you work outside any frost: tradition chooses the descending moon. The stone fruit trees, by contrast, are better pruned at the end of summer, their wounds coping poorly with the cold damp of winter.
What to harvest in the kitchen garden in December?: Leeks, Brussels sprouts, corn salad and Jerusalem artichokes, as you need them: tradition places the leaves on leaf days and the roots on root days. Frost isn’t your enemy everywhere: it even sweetens the Brussels sprouts and the Jerusalem artichokes.