12 Garden Planning Tasks to Put on Your Calendar Now

When it’s time to start planning your garden, you might think the main garden planning tasks are simply deciding when to plant and what to plant. But, this leaves out many significant garden planning tasks that must be completed to enjoy a flourishing garden. 

this article

In order to ease planting stress, let’s talk about other garden planning tasks that need to be considered during the planning process. Then we can also go over when you should complete them so that your actual planting process is smooth and simple. 

Grab a pencil or the notes app on your phone and jot down these 12 garden planning tasks that you’ll want to get on your calendar now. Trust me, you’ll thank me!

Before we begin, if you’d like to watch a podcast episode instead about these 12 garden planning tasks that you’ll want to get on your calendar now, you can listen here:

Garden Planning Tasks

Let’s go over the 12 garden planning tasks that you’ll want to put on your calendar with these topics:

1. Order or Buy Seeds
2. Buy Transplants
3. New Garden Beds
4. Straw Bale Garden Supplies & Conditioning
5. All Other Gardening Supplies
6. Build Trellises
7. Any Other Big Garden Projects
8. Obtain Garden Covers
9. Plan Your Fall Garden
10. Order Garlic
11. Plant Garlic
12. Succession Plantings

Don’t forget to snag your 2024 Garden Planner now!

1. Order or Buy Seeds

The first garden planning task you’ll want to add to your calendar is to order or buy seeds. I’m not recommending you actually buy the seeds yet, but get that date on your calendar so that when it’s time to plant your seeds, you have the seeds you need. 

But, before you start flipping through seed catalogs, make sure you plan out your garden on paper first. I don’t want you to make the mistake of ordering too much or not enough.

Remember, it’s always best to plan out your garden space on paper and then order the exact amount of seeds you need all at once.

While you are planning the seeds to buy, you need to also think about other crops you need that are not seeds.

Examples are onion transplants, seed potatoes, sweet potato slips, strawberry bare roots, bushes, trees, and asparagus crowns, just to name a few.

Each of these crops needs to be a part of your garden plan before you order so that you know how much you need to order based on your actual garden space.

Remember, our 2024 Garden Planner is a great tool to use when you are planning out your garden. Grab it here now.

2. Buy Transplants

Buying transplants is the next garden planning task you’ll want to add to your calendar. The reason you’ll want to get this on your calendar is that you’ll want to buy transplants just a day or two before you actually plant them in the ground. 

If you plan to plant your transplants a few days after you purchase them, just make sure to keep them well watered and set in a sunny spot until they are ready to plant.

3. New Garden Beds

If you want to add new raised beds, you will want to make sure you have them built and in place prior to your planting date. 

Make sure you have the time to order, build, and prepare the beds well ahead of them you plan to plant. This process can take some time. Plan accordingly so that you are not pressed for time or feeling stressed out on the day of planting.

If you’re growing in a ground bed and you plan to work the soil through tilling, make sure you have obtained your tiller and have tilled your garden space before your scheduled planting date.

4. Straw Bale Gardening Supplies & Conditioning

Next on our list of garden planning tasks is to acquire straw bale gardening supplies IF you plan on using the straw bale garden method to grow any of your crops.

You will need to get the straw bales, nitrogen, and All-Purpose fertilizer. 

After you obtain those supplies, it’s time to condition the straw bales to be ready for planting. This conditioning process takes approximately 14 days to complete, so plan ahead so you have enough time to get it done before your scheduled planting date. 

Don’t skip the conditioning process. You won’t have a successful straw bale garden if you don’t take the time to condition the bales. Once the conditioning process is done, the actual method of straw bale gardening is very easy. 

If you want to learn more about how I garden in straw bales, watch this video:

5. Acquire Other Gardening Supplies

Following that, your next step is to make a list of all the other gardening supplies you might need throughout the beginning gardening season, starting with seed starting supplies (if you start seeds indoors) and going all the way through harvest. 

Having supplies on hand makes a huge difference in the efficiency of your garden throughout the year.

Here is a list of my favorite garden supplies.

6. Build Trellises

Our next garden planning task is to build trellises. Is this the year that you want to add vertical gardening space to your garden? If so, a vertical trellis is an excellent way to maximize garden space. 

Building a trellis can be done at any time – in fact it’s one of those gardening tasks that you can do way ahead of time. Just make sure you have it done before you are ready to plant. 

You can build a wooden trellis, an A-frame trellis, or an arched trellis (here are some ideas) — but again, just remember to get it in place before your crops need it. I like to have my trellis in place when I’m planting my seeds in the ground so that as soon as my plants sprout and need my trellis, it’s already in place.

It’s also a good idea when you are thinking about building trellises to also purchase stakes, cages, and any other supplies you might need for those crops that will take advantage of your trellis.

7. Any Other Big Garden Projects

Are there any other big garden projects you want to complete during this growing season? If so, now is the time to obtain the supplies you’ll need to complete these garden tasks.

Maybe this is the year you will build or develop a compost bin? If so, make sure to add it to your calendar and obtain the supplies you’ll need for it.

Or maybe this is the year that you need to build a fence? Building a fence is the best way to help keep critters out of your garden. You’ll want to plan the time to complete this project before you plant your crops.

The last thing you want to do is spend all the time and energy planting crops and then having them destroyed by garden critters; it’s very disheartening. 

Just make sure you are planning properly. Whether it’s for a fence, or some other way of protecting your garden crops. Make sure this is done before any of your seeds sprout, otherwise you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.

8. Obtain Garden Covers

Your next garden planning task is to obtain any garden covers you’ll need through the growing season. There are several types of covers I’d recommend you consider purchasing. 

The first one is a floating row cover that you’ll want to use when you plant out first crops – just in case there is a cold snap or you can cover them while they get acclimated. 

I also recommend insect netting, especially for when you plant out brassicas and any other crops that might need protection from pests. 

9. Plan Your Fall Garden

Next task to add to your calendar is to plan your fall garden. Taking the time to plan your fall garden or at least revisit your plans is an important task. Fall garden planting starts in July, when most of us are neck-deep in summer gardening. That’s why doing this ahead of time can save you stress in the middle of the summer.

Often, I’ll plan my fall garden at the same time I plan my spring and summer garden. Then, in July, I will go over my fall gardening ideas and see if there is anything I need to adjust, delete, or add, based on how my spring crops did.

10. Order Garlic

Garlic is planted in the fall for best results. You’ll want to order your seed garlic in September and plan to plant your seeds in late October (depending on your location…you want to plant around your average first frost date). Just store your garlic seeds in a cool spot until it’s time to plant them.

11. Plant Garlic

Garlic tends to be one of those crops that we tend to forget about, so make sure you’ve added the task to your calendar so you don’t forget. Add it to your calendar to plant around your average first frost date.

12. Succession Planting

In order to expand your gardening seasons into spring and fall, not just summer, you’ll need to plan to plant succession crops. This means, when one crop harvests, you’ll have another going in its place.

The biggest thing to remember with succession planting is that you need to be flexible. The timings of your plantings might change each year by a week or two depending on what your weather and climate are experiencing. But knowing what will go in a garden bed after the one crop has harvests will give you a direction to keep your garden season going as long as possible.

Any Other Garden Planning Tasks

If you have any other garden planning tasks that come up, just make sure to plan them out and add them to your calendar. That way you can ensure a successful gardening year that is stress free! 

Planning your garden isn’t just about picking out what you want to grow. It’s about getting all the garden planning tasks sorted too. From ordering seeds to obtaining transplants and preparing new garden beds, there’s a lot to consider before you even get your hands dirty. 

Tackle these tasks one by one, and you’ll be set for a successful garden season. So, before you dive into the fun of planting, make sure you’ve got these basic tasks covered—they’ll make your gardening journey a whole lot easier and way more rewarding!