When is Best Time Plant Vegetable Garden?

Even a small sunny backyard can have room for a raised bed vegetable garden; but when is the best time to plant it?

When is the best time plant vegetable garden? Use our free interactive zone finder, and interactive vegetable garden planner guide to help plan your garden!

Using your handy garden tool supplies, you can plant a garden almost any time of the year.

Visit your local gardeners supply company to find garden grow lights and supplies for creating an indoor garden.

Planting a Garden

Planting a Container or Potted Vegetable Garden

A container vegetable garden can be planted indoors any time of the year to deliver fresh vegetables year-round!
Also, a potted vegetable garden can be planted indoors year round, or outdoors during the planting season.
A raised bed vegetable garden, using vertical vegetable gardening to save space with a garden plan can be started outdoors in the spring when there will be no more freezing weather.

Design Your Own Vegetable Garden Layout Using our Free "Vegetable Garden Planner" Software!

Timing your planting correctly is the foundation of a productive seasonal vegetable garden. This page is also part of our Seasonal Vegetable Garden hub, where you will find individual guides for spring, summer, fall, and winter growing as well as cold frame and cold-hardy vegetable resources.

Seasonal Vegetable Garden — complete hub for spring, summer, fall, and winter vegetable gardening guides

Planting a Raised Bed and Container Vegetable Garden

Planning a vegetable garden layout that works for you, is key to your success as a beginner!

Vegetable gardening is an ongoing learning process, from planting a beginner vegetable garden to the most advanced design or layout.

With each successful season’s harvest, a new adventure begins, bringing its own beauty and challenges to overcome.

So let's get started!

Use our free interactive Zone Finder to locate your USDA gardening zone, and planting guides for your specific zone.

Best Time Plant Vegetable Garden

Download our free vegetable garden planting calendar; click on the image.

Note: If you live where you can have freezing winter and spring weather, you may need to adjust the best time to plant the vegetable garden schedule below forward a month or two.

Your local garden center can give you general planting times for your climate, or use the planner we have provided below.

Download Free Garden Planning Worksheets, Garden Diary, Zone Chart, Or Planting Guide

Plant Lettuce While Weather is Still Cool

June- July- August

Ah, summer. The vegetable garden is at its peak. It can be difficult to keep up with all the vegetables that need to be tended and harvested.

June: Best time plant vegetable garden including sweet potatoes cherry tomatoes, okra, and peas. Herbs for summer include mint, marjoram, basil, chives, oregano, and dill.

July: Plant vegetables that are heat resistant including pumpkins, okra, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, and cherry tomatoes. Herbs for mid summer are dill, mint, oregano, basil, chives, and marjoram. By mid month, sow tomato, eggplant, and pepper seeds for late August transplants.

August: Sow watermelon seeds by the 10th day of the month. Wait until mid-month for planting cucumbers, celery, collards, broccoli, eggplant, onions, corn, peppers, squash, tomatoes, and beans. Click Here for a Vegetable Planting Guide

Click Here for a Vegetable Planting Guide

September- October- November

Fall doesn't have to mean the end of the vegetable garden season...

September: By mid-month, complete plantings of beans, peppers, squash, eggplant, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Start seeds for cool season transplants, Brussels sprouts, celery, lettuce, cauliflower, and onion. The best time plant vegetable garden including the herbs borage, lavender, rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme, anise, fennel, coriander, and mint in the vegetable garden. Prepare strawberry beds for future planting.

October: Plant cool season vegetables, cauliflower, mustards, collards, onions, lettuce, beets, broccoli, peas, radishes, spinach, cabbage, turnips, and carrots. Plant strawberry beds. Best time plant vegetable garden herbs for fall include mint, rosemary, lavender, chives, coriander, anise, borage, sage, marjoram, thyme, fennel, and garlic.

November: Sow mustards, onions, lettuce, beets, cauliflower, rutabagas, collards, turnips, Swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, peas, radishes, and spinach. November is the best time plant vegetable garden containing winter herbs including rosemary, dill, fennel, sage, coriander, chives, garlic, anise, lavender, marjoram, and thyme in the vegetable garden.

December-January- February

Winter gardening tips.

December: Keep the vegetable patch going with cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage, mustard, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips, beets, collards, carrots, radishes, and broccoli. Best time plant vegetable garden containing herbs for winter fennel, garlic, chives, comfrey, coriander, parsley, anise, dill, mint, thyme, and sage in your vegetable garden.

January: Plant mustards, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, potatoes, turnips, radishes, broccoli, beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, and collards. Best time plant vegetable garden winter herbs including horehound, comfrey, mint, parsley, chives, catnip, coriander, fennel, cardamom, anise, thyme, rosemary, and sage. At mid-month, sow cucumber, pepper, and squash, eggplant, and tomato seeds indoors for transplant ready by March.

February: Best time plant vegetable garden, or make final planting of broccoli, beets, potatoes, radishes, collards, lettuce, peas, and turnips in the vegetable garden. By the end of the month, plant peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, corn, cantaloupes, tomatoes, and watermelons. Start tomato, eggplant, and peppers seeds to have transplants in 6-8 weeks.

March-April- May

Spring is in the air...time to get seeds started, and to plan this year's vegetable garden!

March: Make early plantings of peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, and corn. Crops to plant through the month include cantaloupes, peas, squash, beans, okra, eggplant, and cucumbers. Sprout sweet potatoes for transplants later in spring. Best time to plant herbs coriander, comfrey, basil, chives, dill, anise, sage, thyme, fennel, marjoram, and mint in the vegetable garden.

April: Plant vegetables including peas, sweet potatoes, beans, cantaloupes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, peppers, and okra. Herbs for spring planting are marjoram, thyme, sage, anise, rosemary, chives, basil, dill, borage, oregano, mint, and savory.

May: Continue planting beans, okra, collards, spinach, peas, sweet potatoes, and cherry tomatoes. Best time to plant herbs including savory, thyme, mint, basil, chives, sage, dill, and marjoram in the vegetable garden.

Free Vegetable Garden Plans

Download our sample square foot garden plan by clicking on the image.

Check out our free vegetable garden plans if you would like some ideas for designing, planning, or layout for your vegetable garden! See our square foot gardening guide for complete instructions for planning a square foot garden.

A printable planting calendar is one of the most practical tools for organizing a seasonal vegetable garden across all four seasons. This page is also part of our Seasonal Vegetable Garden hub, where you will find complete guides to growing through every season of the year.

Seasonal Vegetable Garden — complete hub for spring, summer, fall, and winter vegetable gardening guides

Click Here for a Free Square-Foot Garden Plan

Vegetable gardening is a great hobby with many rewards.

So get started planning your garden now!

And if you have extra homegrown vegetables, share with your friends and neighbors.

They will be delighted, as there is no nicer gift to receive than fresh garden produce!

Continue planning your vegetable garden using the links below!

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