Vegetable Planting: Succession Diagrams for a Successful Season

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Robert Dolezal

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Succession planting allows home gardeners to grow and harvest several different vegetables in the same bed during a single growing season. Many succession combos are possible. Typically, start the year with plantings of fast-maturing, cool-season vegetables. As they’re harvested, plant warm-season species to replace the empty spaces in your garden.

The following example diagrams demonstrate what one raised vegetable bed could look like at three different times during the growing season in a moderately long-season climate zone (like what’s found in USDA hardiness zones 6-8). Cooler climate zones may allow for just two successions, while mild coastal areas with temperate year-round climates may permit year-round successions.

Early Spring Planting

Begin planting in early spring, as soon as the soil warms sufficiently to be worked and the threat of frost is gone.

Late Spring — Early Summer Planting

A few months later, when harvesting of the first vegetables slows, plan again with summer-yielding crops like these.

Late Summer — Early Autumn Planting

In late summer or very early autumn, when the midsummer crops have been picked, plant veggies for a third time – ones that will mature as the first frosts begin to nip the garden.

Warnings

If you want to build raised beds for food-producing plants, never use pressure-treated wood! Pressure-treated lumber can leach chemicals – including arsenic – into your garden soil. Visit the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Website for more information on the EPA’s official take on this issue.

Tips

New to food gardening? Check out Learn2Grow’s 4 Step Food Garden program, and learn the easy steps to growing a bountiful harvest this season.

Come to The Garden Party and share your food garden accomplishments with the rest of the Learn2Grow community! Join the 4 Step Food Garden Group and/or the Growing, Grilling and Eating Group and post some pictures of your productive garden, create a blog, share a recipe or ask our experts or other home gardeners for any help you may need along your growing way!

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Seasoning Your Produce (for a Year-Round Harvest)
Yes, you can eat delicious and healthy produce from your garden year-round! The key is knowing what to plant and when to harvest (and how to store it all). Here’s the seasonal list to help you plan ahead.
The Great Garden Frame-Up
Raised vegetable beds provide a neat and orderly appearance to the garden, as well as bring productive results. Here are the quick step-by-step instructions to building an easy raised vegetable bed in one afternoon.
Set the Plot
The row garden is the most traditional way to grow vegetables. Once your soil is properly amended and fertilized, the next step is to prepare your plot for planting. Here’s a quick look at how to set your beds, rows and hills.

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