Plant by soil temperature, not the date

Seeds sprout by how warm the soil is. Peas sprout in soil as cool as 40°F; beans need about 60°F, and squash and melons 65°F or more. Check a few inches down in the morning.

When: Spring

Planting dates for your ZIP →

Sow a little every 2 to 3 weeks

Lettuce, radishes, bush beans, carrots, and cilantro all come ready at once. Sow a short row every few weeks for a steady harvest instead of one big glut.

When: Spring, Growing season · For: Lettuce, Radish, Green beans (bush), Carrot, Cilantro

What you can still plant →

Give plants room to grow

Crowded plants fight over water and light, and the damp, still air between them invites disease. Use the spacing on the seed packet; the Garden map shows how many plants fit in each bed.

When: Spring

Plan a bed on the Garden map →

Tuck quick crops between slow ones

Radishes, lettuce, and spinach are ready in 4 to 8 weeks, before young tomatoes, squash, or broccoli grow big enough to need the space around them.

When: Spring · For: Radish, Lettuce, Spinach

Plant tomatoes deep

Tomatoes grow roots all along a buried stem. Pinch off the lower leaves and bury the stem up to the top few sets of leaves. A deeper root system means a sturdier plant that needs less water.

When: Spring · For: Tomato, Cherry tomato

Know if a tomato is bush or vining

Bush (determinate) tomatoes stop at about 3 to 4 feet and ripen most of their fruit within a few weeks, which is handy for canning. Vining (indeterminate) ones keep growing and fruiting until frost, and need tall stakes or cages.

When: Winter, Spring · For: Tomato, Cherry tomato

Hold seedlings by a leaf, not the stem

A seedling can grow a new leaf, but a crushed stem kills it. When you transplant, hold it by a leaf and support the root ball from below.

When: Spring

Transplant on a cloudy day or in the evening

Transplants lose less water when the sun isn't beating down, and get a night to settle in. Water them well right after planting.

When: Spring

Label everything

Write the variety and the date on a label for every row. You'll forget by midsummer, and you'll want to know which variety did best.

When: Spring

Log a planting →

Put supports in at planting time

Set cages, stakes, and trellises when you plant, not when the plant starts to flop. Pushing them in later breaks roots and stems.

When: Spring · For: Tomato, Cherry tomato, Cucumber, Pole beans, Peas, Snap peas

Build a trellis →

Plant seeds at the right depth

A good rule: plant a seed two to three times as deep as it is wide. Tiny seeds like lettuce and carrots barely get covered at all.

When: Spring

Soak big, hard seeds overnight

Peas, beets, chard, and okra sprout faster after 8 to 12 hours in water. Plant them right away, and don't soak them longer than a day, or they can rot.

When: Spring · For: Peas, Snap peas, Beet, Swiss chard, Okra

Keep carrot seeds moist until they sprout

Carrots can take 2 to 3 weeks to sprout, and a dry crust on top stops them. Lay a board over the row to keep it damp, check every day, and lift it as soon as you see sprouts.

When: Spring, Growing season · For: Carrot, Parsnip

Plant corn in a block, not one long row

Corn is pollinated by the wind carrying pollen from the tassels to the silks. A block at least four rows wide gets full ears; a single long row gets ears with missing kernels.

When: Spring · For: Sweet corn, Popcorn

Plant garlic in fall

Plant cloves pointy end up, 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart, a few weeks before the ground freezes. They grow roots over winter and make big bulbs by midsummer. Cover the bed with a few inches of straw.

When: Fall · For: Garlic

Put tall crops on the north side

Corn, trellised vines, and tall tomatoes cast long shadows. Plant them on the north side of the garden so they don't shade shorter crops.

When: Winter

Plan it on your Garden map →

Plant flowers with your vegetables

Zinnias, sweet alyssum, dill, and marigolds bring in bees, plus the ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies that eat aphids and caterpillars.

When: Spring · For: Zinnia, Sweet alyssum, Dill, Marigold