Most people treat gardening like a one-and-done situation. You prep the soil, plant your seeds, cross your fingers, and hope you’ll be swimming in tomatoes by July. But here’s the thing: your garden doesn’t stop growing just because your calendar says June.
There’s a better way to treat your garden beds — one that turns them into a nonstop veggie machine instead of a “once in spring and done” kind of setup. It’s called succession planting, and no, it has nothing to do with billionaires yelling at each other in suits.
If you’ve ever wished your lettuce wouldn’t all bolt at once or that your beans didn’t come in with the intensity of a full marching band, you’re going to like this.
What Is Succession Planting (And Why You Should Care)
Succession planting means spacing out your planting times so you’re not stuck with a hundred zucchinis all at once. It also means using your space more than once per season. It’s smart, efficient, and slightly addictive once you get the hang of it.
🗓️ Strategy #1: Stagger Your Timing
Instead of planting all your lettuce in one go, plant a few rows every 1–2 weeks. This gives you a steady supply instead of a leafy overload followed by… sadness.
🌱 Strategy #2: Reuse Your Beds
Once your radishes are done (which takes about 25 days), pull them out and replace them with something new like carrots, beans, or even fall broccoli. One space, two (or three!) crops.
🌾 Strategy #3: Mix Up the Varieties
Plant early, mid-season, and late-season varieties of the same crop. You’ll extend your harvest window without planting anything new. Works great for corn, cabbage, and peas.
🥕 Strategy #4: Fast with Slow
Grow a fast crop next to a slow one. Example: sneak in radishes between your rows of carrots. The radishes will be ready in no time, leaving the carrots plenty of room to stretch out.
What You Can Still Plant in June
Just because spring crops are winding down doesn’t mean your soil should sit there like it’s on vacation. June is actually the *start* of round two in succession planting — the part where you fill in the gaps left by early harvests and keep your garden producing well into late summer.
If your radishes, spinach, or peas have called it quits, this is your chance to replant that space with something fresh. Same soil, same bed — new crop.
🌞 Still Good to Go in June
- Beans (bush and pole)
- Summer squash and zucchini
- Beets, carrots, radishes
- Swiss chard
- Cucumbers
- Herbs like basil, dill, and cilantro
- Fast-growing greens (spinach, arugula, baby lettuce)
This is the core of succession planting — not letting any square foot of your garden loaf around. You harvested? Great. Now replant. Keep the cycle going and your fridge full.
Planning Ahead for Fall (Yes, Already)
Succession planting isn’t just about squeezing more out of summer. It’s also how you sneak in a second season of cool-weather crops once the heat starts to dip. And June is the sweet spot for plotting that out — especially if you want to eat homegrown kale while wearing a sweater.
Think of it like this: anything that takes 60–90 days to mature should go in sometime between late June and mid-July, depending on your zone. That means you can follow your summer harvest with crops that actually *prefer* the cooler weather.
🍂 Fall Crops to Plan Now
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Kale and collards
- Turnips and rutabaga
- Carrots and beets
- Fall lettuces
These aren’t going in today, but they *are* going in soon. If you want that fall harvest, you’ll need to know which beds will be free and when — which means tracking your earlier plantings and making room right when they finish.
How to Actually Plan This Without Losing Your Mind
Succession planting sounds great until you realize your brain has to remember dates, days to maturity, and whether or not you already planted beans in that one bed. This is where a little planning saves a lot of chaos.
You don’t need fancy software. Just a notebook, a calendar, or even a piece of scrap paper stuck to the fridge will do. The key is to treat your garden like a rotating schedule, not a set-it-and-forget-it project.
📋 Keep It Simple With This Mini Checklist
- Write down your planting dates (yes, all of them)
- Note each crop’s expected harvest time
- Mark “replant” dates 1–2 weeks after quick crops finish
- Set reminders for when to start fall crops
- Jot down what worked (and what didn’t) at the end of the season
Think of it as a garden journal with benefits. Future-you will thank you, especially when you’re not standing over a patch of soil in late July thinking, “Was this where I put the beets or the chard?”
Give It a Try This Season
I used to think I had to do all my planting in spring or I’d missed the boat. But once I tried succession planting, things changed fast. My garden suddenly felt alive for months, not just a few weeks. And honestly, there’s something deeply satisfying about watching empty soil turn productive again — like flipping a page and starting a new chapter halfway through the book.
Even if you just try one of the strategies this year, it’ll make a difference. More harvests, less waste, and way fewer moments of “Why did I plant this much lettuce?”
Go easy, keep it flexible, and see what works. Your garden doesn’t have to be big to be busy.
Give It a Try This Season
I used to think I had to do all my planting in spring or I’d missed the boat. But once I tried succession planting, things changed fast. My garden suddenly felt alive for months, not just a few weeks. And honestly, there’s something deeply satisfying about watching empty soil turn productive again — like flipping a page and starting a new chapter halfway through the book.
Even if you just try one of the strategies this year, it’ll make a difference. More harvests, less waste, and way fewer moments of “Why did I plant this much lettuce?”
Go easy, keep it flexible, and see what works. Your garden doesn’t have to be big to be busy.
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.