Planning Your Flower or Vegetable Garden For Next Season

Planning your flower or vegetable garden for next year or next season will help you mitigate chaos and achieve your gardening goals. Don’t let the Winter or fallow season pass you by (or let yourself get swept up with the seed catalogs). Ask yourself these questions so you can have the garden of your dreams.

What do we need to do to plan out our gardens for Spring? Maybe this is your first year having a garden. You’ve learned A TON and now you want to put those lessons learned to good use. Maybe you’re an experienced gardener, but you’re just looking to change things up. 

Let’s dive into some questions we can ask ourselves to help us better prepare for next season!

Heads up: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. That means if you click through and make a purchase, we will make a commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support! You can read our full disclosure here.

Questions to Ask When Preparing Your Garden for Next Year

Like most goals, it is all about mindset. If we start off with the right mindset around gardening and growing our own food, then we are more likely to achieve our gardening goals. Each season gives a chance to start all over again, which is something I love!

What went well (or not so well) in the garden last year?

• What was I successful growing?
• What was I not successful at growing?
• What has potential?

These questions may seem like no-brainers, but I promise you that most of us are just irrational when it comes to what we grow in our gardens. We are intrigued by pretty pictures in a seed catalog or the lovely photography on the plant tag. I have found myself growing flower varieties that have no business being in cutting garden whatsoever, and when they don’t grow well, I insist that I just need to give them one more year. 

However, just because we are told a plant will grow well in full sun in zone 6 doesn’t mean that it will. Each of our gardens have their own microclimate (average temperatures and rainfall), and not to mention our soil is vastly different from place to place.

Also, some plants and varieties are just not vigorous growers. There’s a reason why they aren’t common, because they just aren’t that great in reality.

Sometimes plants struggle in the garden because we made a mistake about the location or maybe we forgot to water them in a period of drought. We know that we can grow a plant, but due to environmental factors something just didn’t turn out right. It’s good to make a note of why you think that particular plant struggled and use those notes to better prepare for next year. 

But there are other times when it’s really just the plant. Don’t be afraid to unfriend those plants that struggle. If they require more effort from you and don’t exactly bring a high level of joy for you later, they’re likely not worth it!

Gardening Tip: Make a list of the plants that met or exceeded your expectations in the garden last season, and then make a list of plants that struggled. Highlight the plants in your “struggle” list that you feel have potential in the garden. Decide whether they’re worth growing again for next year. Unless you’re a dead set on mastering the culture of a particular plant, cross out all the plants that aren’t highlighted on your “struggle” list. Use your metaphorical machete and slash those plants out of your life. Be ruthless. 

How much space do I want to dedicate for the garden next year?

• Do I want to expand my garden? (Better yet, can I expand my garden?)
• Do I need to downsize my garden? Was I overwhelmed with upkeep?

Be honest with yourself when it comes to how much space you want to use for garden next year. Sometimes we want to grow a lot, but the bigger the space, the more energy required from you. 

This was a very hard concept for me to grasp when I first started flower farming. I felt I needed to have a huge garden in order to grow everything I needed.

For example, I have a dedicated field space that is about 70 feet long by 100 feet wide. Some of that space is now taken up by perennials, but the vast majority of it is taken up by annual beds. 

You know what plants I have mostly grown in the last 4 years of flower farming?

Weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. 

In fact, one year I fulfilled all my flower subscriptions working within two rows instead of the seven rows that I planted. The remaining rows were overtaken by weeds early on, so I took to mowing them periodically to keep the grasses down. 

I was shocked that in my fourth year of flower farming, I fulfilled more flower orders out of less space than I had in the past 3 years.

You don’t need a ton of space to grow flowers or vegetables. Start small and grow as needed.

If you know you were overwhelmed last season, then try downsizing your garden. Cut out the plants on your list that maybe didn’t provide that much value or, if it’s a vegetable, maybe plants that you really don’t eat. 

Gardening Tip: Use your list of plants that you want to grow and do some research on plant spacing. Sometimes spacing between plants can be tightened so you can fit more plants per square foot. Also, decreasing spacing between plants can help reduce weed germination and growth.

What are some physical or cultural things I need to change in the garden?

• Do I need to fix drainage?
• Do I need to apply amendments?
• Is a different style of growing I need to try out?

Fall and Winter are great times to fix up the garden in preparation for Spring. Oftentimes the high amounts of rainfall in Spring can mean that we won’t be able to get into the garden until after our ideal planting time. 

Applying Garden Amendments

Also, sometimes we may need to apply amendments to our soil in order to fix characteristics that are undesirable in our soil.

For example, lime may need to be applied to raise the pH of the soil, or if you’re planting blueberries, you may need to acidify the soil by adding sulfur. Another amendment you may want to apply to increase organic matter and nutrient content of the soil could be animal manure.

When applying amendments in hopes to change the soil long-term, applying them several months in advance will allow the soil to change in the way you want it to without affecting your plants.

Manure collected straight from the animal pen can sometimes “burn” plants if applied immediately to the soil, but if manure is applied well in advance and incorporated into the soil, it can then break down enough that it won’t harm plant tissues. 

Adding Or Adjusting structures & Drainage in Your Garden

You may need to physically adjust your garden beds in order to prepare for next year. Planning this out in advance will help you prepare for when it’s time to plant.

Maybe your garden is in a low-lying area that collects water. You may decide you want to use raised beds next year, so you’ll need to purchase supplies and make the beds in advance of Spring. Or you may decide to dig ditches around your garden for better drainage.

Maybe you’re trying to collect water instead of steer it away? Do you have issues conserving water in your garden? You can watch this video for some inspiration on water conservation.

Maybe you decide to grow pole beans instead of bush beans next year in order to conserve space. This is a completely different style of growing, so you will have to purchase supplies for a trellis and then install this trellis before you’re ready to plant so you are all ready to go. 

Whatever the case may be, try to think ahead of time about the physical differences you are going to implement in your style of growing for next year. Plan ahead so you can order and receive materials in advance of when you will need them.

Where and when should I order new plants or seeds?

• Where am I going to order seeds from?
• Do I want to order perennials?
• Can I propagate these plants on my own?

It seems funny that the time to order seeds, bulbs, and plants can often not be the time that is best for the garden.

One example I can think of is in Spring I see a lot of big box stores selling bulbs and peony roots. While you can possibly plant these plants in Spring, the best time to plant bulbs and peonies is in the Fall. Most bulbs need a certain amount of chilling hours. Sometimes companies will pre-chill bulbs, but that’s not a guarantee.

A lot of people also wait until the rush of Spring to order their seeds, but the best time to order seeds is in the Fall, if not before then. You can beat the rush and the backorders if you order early.

Don’t underestimate the gift of perennials in a garden. If you can plant something once and forget it, you are far better off than restarting seeds each year.

What are my garden goals?

• Do I want a simple garden that supplements our diet?
• Do I want to grow 80 to 90% of what I eat?
• Do I want to sell extra vegetables and/or flowers publicly?

What you’re wanting to accomplish with your garden will likely affect your answers to the questions above. It’s important to know what your goals are so you can reach them. 

If you want to grow just enough to supplement your diet or even your kitchen table (with flowers–we can never forget flowers!), then your garden will likely be much smaller in size. You don’t need to till up half the yard to grow some spinach for a salad and one or two cherry tomato plants. 

If you’re wanting to lean more towards commercial vegetable or flower production, then you’re going to have to plan to use more space in order to do so. However, in most commercial operations, plant spacing is pushed to the limit, so you may not need as much space as you originally think.

Maybe you have a goal of growing most of what you will consume during the growing season. This can be a daunting task at first, but over time you can add more and more vegetables to your grow list as you master the art of growing a particular plant or plant family.

Establishing your garden goals up front will save you lots of headaches (and backaches!) in the long run.

Do you need more “gardening mindset” talk to plan your successful garden?

I hope that the questions posed in this article will help you leap into next season with some confidence. Even as a seasoned gardener, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed by the monster you’ve created. Sometimes it is nice to get back to your roots.

If you’re new to gardening, you may be feeling overwhelmed, especially if you don’t know a lick about gardening or botanical terminology.

I have a great resource for you if you need to refocus your energy. I have a short, easy, funny, and simple gardening book called You Don’t Have a Black Thumb. It may be the kick in the pants you needed to get growing.

Pick up the e-book or paperback in my author bookshop, or you can find the e-book on Amazon or wherever books are sold.

Ready to get growing?

Sign up for our newsletter below to receive a free e-book with all of the growing information to make your very own Summer backyard bouquet.