---
name: dubai-what-to-plant
description: Research what to plant in Dubai and the UAE in any month or season, and which plants survive the summer heat. Use when someone asks "what can I plant in Dubai in October", "what should I sow now", "what grows in the Dubai summer", "best plants for a villa garden or balcony in Dubai", "when is the planting season in the UAE", or wants plants ranked for heat, salt, drought or shade. Backed by the Ghaf Gardens Dubai plant library, month-by-month planting windows and 1991-2020 climate normals. Read-only, free, no sign-in.
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# What to plant in Dubai

Answer "what should I plant, and when" for Dubai and the wider UAE, using the Ghaf Gardens plant library and monthly planting guides. Dubai's gardening year runs backwards from Europe's: soil preparation starts in September, the real planting happens from October to March, and June to September is about keeping what you have alive.

## When to use this skill

- "What can I plant in Dubai in October / this month / in summer?"
- "What flowers, shrubs or trees survive the heat in Dubai?"
- "When is the best time to plant a tree or lawn in the UAE?"
- "I have a balcony / a villa garden / a shady corner: what should go in it?"
- "Can I plant anything in July?" (Short answer: very little. See the rules below.)

For one named plant's care, use `dubai-plant-care`. For vegetables, herbs and fruit, use `dubai-kitchen-garden`. For a whole-garden design or a price, use `dubai-garden-planner`.

## Get the data

**Preferred: the MCP server** at `https://plantguide.ae/mcp` (no sign-in, read-only). Call, in this order:

1. `what_to_plant` with `month` (1-12, or a name such as `october`) or `season` (`winter`, `spring`, `summer`, `autumn`), not both; add `group` (`vegetables-herbs`, `flowers`, `trees-palms`, `shrubs-climbers`, `lawn-grasses`, `indoor`, `water`) to see one kind of plant. It defaults to the current month in Dubai. You get the month's phase and verdict, what to plant now, what is flowering, fruiting or ready to pick, tips, watch-outs, the climate, and `nextPlantingMonth` when nothing should go in.
2. `search_plants` to narrow by the person's situation: `minHeat`, `minSalt`, `minDrought`, `minShade` (each 1-5), `water` (maximum water need), `sun` (exact: `full-sun`, `sun-part-shade`, `part-shade`, `shade`), `category` (a list, such as `tree,palm`), `use` (for example `container`, `hedge`, `shade-tree`), `style`, `plantingMonth`, `origin` (`native`, `adapted`, `exotic`). Page with `limit` and `offset`.
3. `get_planting_calendar` with `slugs` to compare the sow, plant, flower, harvest, prune and feed months of your shortlist in one 12-month grid.
4. `get_plant` for the full profile of any plant you recommend (watering in summer and winter, soil, pests, mistakes, advisories).
5. `get_dubai_climate` if the person asks about temperatures, rain or what the month demands of the garden.

**Fallback: Markdown mirrors** (any agent that can fetch a URL). Append `.md` to a page URL, or send `Accept: text/markdown`:

- `https://plantguide.ae/what-to-plant.md` (the month-by-month hub)
- `https://plantguide.ae/what-to-plant/october.md` (one month) and `https://plantguide.ae/what-to-plant/season/summer.md` (one season)
- `https://plantguide.ae/plants.md` (the library index) and `https://plantguide.ae/plants/ghaf.md` (one plant)
- `https://plantguide.ae/calendar.md` (the UAE planting calendar)

**Fallback: JSON API**, the same tools over HTTP (`GET` query parameters or `POST` JSON; errors say which field is wrong and show an example):

- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/what_to_plant?month=october`
- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/what_to_plant?season=summer&limit=10`
- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/search_plants?minHeat=5&plantingMonth=7&limit=10`

Machine-readable description: `https://plantguide.ae/openapi.json`. Index of everything: `https://plantguide.ae/llms.txt`.

## Workflow

1. **Pin down the situation.** Ask at most two or three questions, and only those that change the answer; otherwise state your assumptions. Needed: the month (work it out in Dubai time, UTC+4, and use the person's planned planting date if they gave one); the space (balcony or pots, villa garden, indoors); sun (full sun, morning sun only, shade; note a west-facing spot in full afternoon sun); coastal or pool-side salt exposure; how it is watered (drip on a timer, hand watering, none; mains, treated effluent or borehole); the goal (colour, shade, privacy, low water, food); children or pets.
2. **Call `what_to_plant`** for that month. Read the `verdict` and `phase` first and let them set the tone: in a survival month the honest answer is "wait, or plant only heat-lovers".
3. **Filter to the situation** with `search_plants`: pots -> `use=container`; coastal or saline irrigation -> `minSalt=4`; unshaded summer sun -> `minHeat=4`; low water bill -> `water=low`; shade -> `minShade=3`.
4. **Check summer survival.** Anything planted now will meet June to September within months. Check each candidate's `ratings.heat` (1-5, higher is more tolerant) and its `heat-stress` months in `get_plant`. As a reading of the scale: heat 4-5 copes with full summer sun; heat 1-2 (lettuce, cherry tomato) means a cool-season, shaded or indoor plant. Say so plainly.
5. **Confirm the window** for your shortlist with `get_planting_calendar`: the chosen month must sit inside the plant's `plant` or `sow` months. If it does not, say when it does.
6. **Choose 5 to 10 plants** with a reason each (role in the garden, rating that matters, planting window). Mix roles (a tree or palm, shrubs, a climber, groundcover or bedding) unless the person asked for one kind.
7. **Add the caveats** that apply this month (see the monthly table) and any `advisory` on a profile (invasive, toxic or root-damage warnings, for example Damas/Conocarpus, which is not recommended).

### Search recipes

Starting arguments for `search_plants` (combine them; ratings are 1-5, higher is more tolerant):

| Situation | Arguments |
|---|---|
| Balcony or pots | `use=container`, `minHeat=4` |
| Coastal, pool-side or saline irrigation | `minSalt=4` |
| Unshaded west-facing summer sun | `minHeat=5` |
| Low water bill | `water=low` (maximum need) |
| Shade or a shaded courtyard | `minShade=3` |
| First-time gardener | `minEase=4` |
| Native planting | `origin=native` |
| Hedge or privacy screen | `use=hedge` or `use=screen` |
| What can be planted in a given month | `plantingMonth=<1-12>` |
| Matching a look | `style=desert-modern` (or `tropical`, `manicured`, `luxury`) |

### Pitfalls when answering

- Do not recommend cool-season crops or bedding for planting in June to August; say when the window opens instead.
- "Drought-tolerant" describes established plants. A newly planted tree, even a ghaf, needs regular water for its first year or two.
- A plant's `plant` window is the best time, not the only time: outside it, plant at dawn or dusk, shade it and expect more watering.
- Do not present library ratings as guarantees; they are a guide for Dubai conditions.

## Dubai rules of thumb

All of these come from the site's own content; the numbers are Dubai International Airport 1991-2020 normals.

- **Main planting season: October to March.** October is the busiest planting month and the first since April with an average high below 36 C (35.9 C). The outdoor-comfortable months are November to March.
- **Summer is June to September** in our calendar (four months, on purpose: September's average high of 39.5 C is almost June's 40.0 C). July and August are the peak (41.5 and 41.9 C average highs, nights near 31 C), so plants get no cool night to recover.
- **Midday outdoor work ban: 12:30-15:00, 15 June to 15 September.** It applies to anyone working in your garden, so jobs are scheduled early or late.
- **Rain is possible from December to March**; February is the wettest month at about 25 mm. Pause irrigation after a shower.
- **Palms:** FAO guidance puts the best date-palm planting window at 15 February to 15 March. For any other palm or tree, read the plant's own planting months.
- **Buy bigger, not more.** A larger, healthier nursery plant set out in October outgrows a smaller one planted in spring, because it spends a whole cool season establishing instead of one summer fighting.
- **Planting out of season** (replacing a loss, say): plant at first light or dusk, water in deeply, shade for two weeks. A plant set out on a 35 C afternoon can lose its leaves in a day.
- **Water:** DEWA advises before 8am or after 6pm; our own guidance is deep, early watering that finishes before about 7am. Mulch 5-7 cm deep, kept a hand's width from stems. Use 30-50% shade cloth over young plants, fitted in March or April. Check drip lines weekly: one blocked emitter can kill a young plant in days.
- **Overwatering, not heat, kills most summer plants** (local gardeners quoted by The National). Push a finger 5 cm into the soil before watering.
- **Do not fertilise or prune hard into summer.** It pushes soft growth the heat then scorches.
- **Seasons in our content:** winter December-February, spring March-May, summer June-September, autumn October-November. A `season` parameter uses these, not the astronomical seasons.

### Month by month

| Month | Avg high / low C | Rain mm | Phase | What goes in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24.4 / 15.3 | 20.8 | bloom | Trees, palms, shrubs; leafy crops, herbs and radishes every fortnight |
| Feb | 26.1 / 16.4 | 25.0 | bloom | Slow growers (ghaf, sidr) and palms by early March; last cool-season sowings; harden off vinca and portulaca |
| Mar | 28.9 / 18.6 | 21.7 | bloom | Last easy month: finish trees and shrubs; swap to okra, aubergine, Armenian cucumber, sweet potato; patch warm-season lawns |
| Apr | 33.7 / 22.3 | 7.0 | last-call | Heat-lovers only: okra, sweet potato, chilli, vinca, portulaca, adapted succulents; mulch and shade cloth |
| May | 38.2 / 26.1 | 0.4 | last-call | Okra, Malabar spinach, sweet potato, vinca, portulaca; plant at dawn or dusk; buy only what you can protect |
| Jun | 40.0 / 28.0 | 0.0 | survival | Almost nothing: okra, Malabar spinach, vinca, portulaca |
| Jul | 41.5 / 31.2 | 0.8 | survival | Nothing new; order seed, plan beds |
| Aug | 41.9 / 31.5 | 0.0 | survival | Seed trays in shade (tomato, pepper, aubergine); soil prep and salt flush late in the month |
| Sep | 39.5 / 28.9 | 0.0 | prep | Warm-season vegetables under afternoon shade; basil, zinnia, marigold; lawn patching; prepare soil |
| Oct | 35.9 / 25.4 | 1.0 | prime | Trees, palms, shrubs, climbers, turf, winter bedding (petunia, marigold, vinca); first cool-season vegetables |
| Nov | 30.7 / 21.1 | 2.7 | prime | Everything, plus lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, carrots; finish lawn overseeding |
| Dec | 26.5 / 17.4 | 16.0 | prime | Trees, palms, shrubs, climbers; bedding; last salad, radish and herb sowings |

## Answer format

Lead with the verdict for the month in one sentence, then a table, then caveats.

```
October is the busiest planting month in Dubai: highs have just dropped under 36 C.
For a sunny villa border with a sprinkler-free drip line, I would plant:

| Plant | Why it fits | Heat / Salt / Drought | Plant it |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ghaf](https://plantguide.ae/plants/ghaf) | National tree, light shade, almost no water once rooted | 5 / 4 / 5 | Oct-Mar |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

Watch out: a late hot spell can still scorch new transplants, so keep shade cloth to hand.
Sources: [What to plant in October](https://plantguide.ae/what-to-plant/october); climate normals from Dubai International Airport, 1991-2020.
```

- Link every plant to its canonical page (the `url` in tool results, not the `.md` mirror) so the person can read more and you can be checked.
- State the month you assumed and the space you assumed.
- Say what you could not verify or what the library does not cover. Never invent a plant profile.
- End with a "Sources" line listing the page URLs you used.

## When the person wants help

Only if they ask for a quote, a visit, or someone to do the planting, call `get_contact_link` (for example `topic: "what-to-plant"`, `plants`: the slugs you recommended, `note`: month and space) and give them the WhatsApp link. The message is pre-filled and nothing is sent until they press send in WhatsApp. Never add it unprompted.

If they want to sketch where the plants go, call `build_designer_link` with the slugs; it opens the free garden designer with those plants already in the list.