Create Your Own Vegetable Garden Planting Plan Like a Pro

I don't know about you, but I'm all for a garden that's easy to maintain, that looks stunning, and that gives me a ton of food. If you're saying yes, yes, and yes, then you've gotta learn my planting plan system.

I started my kitchen garden company, Rooted Garden, back in 2015, and over the years, I've developed a planting system for raised beds. If you've ever looked at one of my gardens and thought, "Man, I wish I knew how she decides what to plant where so it looks like that once everything's all grown in," then today is your lucky day. 

This is a sneak peek into how I create planting plants that maximize the available growing space, protect my plants from pests and disease, and ensure the garden looks beautiful all season long.

Here are the 6 steps I follow to create planting plans for my own garden and my clients' gardens.

Label Your Upcoming Growing Season

The very first step to creating a planting plan is figuring out which growing season you're about to enter. I've lived and gardened in a hot, mild, and cold climate at this point, and I've created at least 3 planting plans per year for my garden in each location. That means I plant my garden at least 3 times a year (4 times when I lived in Houston, where you can garden year round).

That's because vegetables have a particular season they like to grow in. Some plants love the cool season, when the temperatures range from 35 to 64°F, and there's a chance of frost. Other plants prefer the warm season, when it's between 65 and 84°F, and there's no chance of frost. Some plants actually grow best in the hot season, when it's 85°F or higher outside. (Note that not all of us have a hot season.)

There's also a cold season, when temps are regularly around or below freezing, but we'll focus on planting plans for the cool, warm, and hot seasons.

Determine Your Plant Priorities

What are the plants you definitely want to grow in your upcoming season? I like to divide my priorities into five categories.

Herbs

If you don't add anything else to your planting plan, you have to at least have herbs. They're so easy to grow and prolific. You'll get tons of harvests from each and every herb plant, which means a fantastic ROI. Herbs are so expensive at the grocery store, but you can easily grow enough at home, no matter the size of your space, to create your own year-round supply of herbs.

Here's an idea of herbs you could add to your list for each season:

• COOL SEASON: cilantro, dill, parsley, plus rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, and oregano once it warms up a bit
• WARM SEASON: parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, oregano, lavender, and basil
• HOT SEASON: rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, oregano, lavender, and basil

Flowers

Make sure to note flowers you'd love to grow in your raised garden beds. Maybe there are particular blooms you'd love to cut and enjoy in your home, or just certain colors you'd enjoy adding to your garden space.

Here's an idea of flowers you could add to your list for each season:

• COOL SEASON: chamomile, calendula, pansies, and snapdragons
• WARM SEASON: marigolds, sweet alyssum, and petunias
• HOT SEASON: African blue basil, angelonia, vincas, and zinnias

Leaves

Now it's time to pick your favorite leafy greens for salads and smoothies.

Here are some of the leaves you might prioritize for each season:

• COOL SEASON: kale, buttercrunch, spring mix, cabbage, spinach, and Swiss chard
• WARM SEASON: arugula, red lettuce, romaine, kale, Swiss chard, and mustard greens
• HOT SEASON: arugula, malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, and mizuna

Roots

What about your favorite plants that grow underground? I'm talking about bulbs, roots, tubers, and tuberous roots.

Here are some root ideas for each season:

• COOL SEASON: radishes, carrots, garlic, onions, and beets
• WARM SEASON: potatoes and onions
• HOT SEASON: sweet potatoes

Fruit

Finally, list all the fruits you want to eat. Now, I'm not talking about apples and oranges and other fruit that grows on trees. I'm talking about annual fruit that grows in a vegetable garden. We might call it a vegetable garden, but technically it's a leaves, roots, and fruit garden. So fruit would be things like tomatoes and squash.

Here are just some of the fruit possibilities for each season:

• COOL SEASON: sugar snap peas, strawberries, snow peas, and fava beans
• WARM SEASON: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, and green beans
• HOT SEASON: okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, and eggplant

Now, that you've got your lists, focus on items from each category that all grow in the same season. So take your warm season herbs, flowers, leaves, roots, and fruit, for example. It's critical that everything you're adding to your planting plan likes to grow in the garden at the same time.

My book, Kitchen Garden Revival, is a great resource if you want more information about what plants love which season. You can also find a shortened version in Part 8 of our How to Start a Garden Series, which is all about understanding your climate.

Place Herbs & Flowers Around the Raised Bed Border

It's time to start figuring out where your plants will go in your raised beds, whether you've got 2 or 10. We start with herbs and flowers, and we'll place them all around the border of your garden boxes. Think of framing out a puzzle you're working on. It helps give you a better sense of what will go inside. That's why we start with the border when we're making our garden planting plans.

These herbs and flowers create a sort of living fence around the veggies growing inside each raised bed. They'll protect your garden from pests and attract tons of beneficial insects. You'll likely harvest from your herbs daily, so it's nice to have them easily accessible. Plus, they just look so beautiful draping over the side, don't you think?

Give Priority Raised Bed Space to Fruiting Plants

We're going to jump now to fruiting plants, since they're the biggest plants you'll need to fit in your raised bed plan. They need the most time to produce and the space (or access to a trellis), so they get priority when it comes to figuring out your plant spacing.

Where you'll place your fruiting plants depends on the layout of your garden beds and the type of fruiting plant. Vining plants like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and pole beans need to be planted right next to a large, sturdy trellis, like an arch or obelisk. Bush-type fruiting plants like peppers and eggplant should either grow along the back of a raised bed that's up against a large structure (and therefore not accessible from that side) or down the middle of the raised bed.

Fruiting plants need a while to establish themselves in the garden. You'll have to prune them and support them on the trellis each week, but overall, you won't be touching them much until it's finally time to harvest fruit.

Place Root Crops Around Fruiting Plants

Root crops onions, carrots, radishes, and beets go right under your fruiting crops like peppers and tomatoes. If you've got a wider bed that's accessible on all sides, then you'd grow roots on either side of your large fruiting plants in the middle.

Roots will just sit there while they do their thing underground. You can cut some leaves from them if you want, but for the most part, they're plant-'em-and-forget-'em plants. You can tuck them away since you won't need to access them daily.

Fill in With Leafy Plants

Last but not least, you'll fill in with leafy greens like arugula, spinach, and romaine. These will go in between your herb and flower border and your root crops.

Your leafy greens are plants that you might harvest from as often as every single day, so you'll want them right near the side of the raised bed. You'll also be replanting small leafy greens like lettuce and arugula frequently. You'll get so much production from your leafy greens, and they'll be nice and protected from pests thanks to their herb and flower neighbors.

That's How You Create a Gardenary-Style Planting Plan

It's as simple as that. I've been planting like this for almost a decade, and let me tell you, it works, it works, it works. I mean, the proof is in these gorgeous pictures by Victoria Quirk.

We've got some resources for you to help you plan, plant, and get growing. Be sure to download our free Garden Calendar to help you know when it's time to put your plant priorities in the garden based on your first and last frost dates. My first book, Kitchen Garden Revival, will help you set up your kitchen garden to maximize beauty and production, and my second book, Leaves, Roots & Fruit, will teach you way more about how to grow your favorite plants.

Once you start planting your garden like this, you'll be so amazed how much you can grow each season.