For millennia, humans have planted and harvested crops according to the phases of the moon. The idea that the moon exerts a determinable influence on plant and crop growth is common to the folklore of many ancient societies, from the Celts of early Britain to the Maori in New Zealand.

Roman historian Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) gives a lengthy account in his Natural History on how to regulate agricultural activities according to moon cycles. Whether it was the Babylonians timing their harvests by the sign the moon travelled through, or the farmers of Eastern Europe watching each moon phase and consulting their almanacs for the best time to plant, earth’s celestial companion has always been thought a heavenly indicator of the seasons for growth.

Rediscovering the moon

Traditional methods of horticulture using lunar gardening were stifled by the new “scientific” philosophy that arrived in the late 17th century. Today, however, there is a resurgent belief in the benefits of gardening by the moon. In a reaction against the increasingly technological approach of modern times, a growing number of people are seeking to become more attuned to nature’s rhythms. Others, including both small-scale and commercial growers, simply want to discover what benefits a lunar gardening schedule may offer.

In the UK, the prestigious BBC Radio 4 network recently addressed the subject of lunar planting in their Sunday program, Gardeners’ Question Time, in an interview with John Harris, head gardener at Tresillian House Garden in Cornwall and award-winning author of R.J.Harris’s Moon Gardening. Following a lunar planting regime since the 1960s, Harris swears by the technique, never sowing a seed without first checking with his lunar calendar.

“The ancient Chinese, Greeks and Romans were guided by the moon,” Harris says. “I find it very effective to time my sowing, planting and pruning by the moon. By applying fertiliser at the right time, I can cut my fertiliser requirement by 50 per cent. It’s not folklore; it’s practical knowledge that works. People call me the ‘loony gardener’ but I don’t mind.”

The secret of Harris’s success lies not only in his use of the deep-bed trough in which he plants the flowers, but also his regular consultation of a moon chart. In Australia as well as many other countries, moon charts or lunar calendars are available to farmers and gardeners and there’s now considerable evidence that crops can benefit from the correct use of such guides. According to Thomas Zimmer, astrologer, gardener and creator of Australia’s popular Astrological Calendar and Moon Planting Guide, this practice is based on an age-old observation that the moon is a regulator of growth processes on earth.

More than the sun

“Planting by the moon (or lunar agriculture) is a simple method of planning your activities in the garden — seed sowing and plant propagation especially — to take place at certain times of the lunar month,” Zimmer says. “By adapting their gardening timetable to coincide with this natural monthly rhythm, growers can not only organise the various tasks that have to be done on a recurring basis, but can also achieve better germination rates, more vital plants and superior-quality produce.”

Zimmer further points out that his calendar is designed to “overcome a flaw or deficiency in the conventional system of reckoning, which, as we know, is based solely on the sun... The solar calendar (of Roman origin) works perfectly to align the dates with the seasons but makes no mention of the moon,” he says.

Before the advent of the Roman calendar, the lunar calendar had been well established, but this too had problems with fluctuations. The Zimmer calendar offers a solution by incorporating both calendars — that is, the standard calendar with the lunar calendar surrounding it in an outer circle.

Of course, adhering to a lunar gardening regime does not obviate the necessity to implement and maintain best-practice gardening methods. Also warns Zimmer, “Don’t lose sight of the seasonal limits when a crop can be grown — moon planting only tells you which days within a given season are best.”