Maximize Your Space: A Guide to Succession Planting

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Succession planting in your home garden is a great way to maximize production and avoid pest and disease problems. Whether you are trying to maximize a small space, or reduce your garden workload, these methods can help. Provide a steady supply of fresh vegetables to your kitchen throughout the growing season with a little planning and forethought.

What is Succession Planting?

There are 4 main types of succession planting: The Harvest and Sow Method, Companion Planting, Different Varieties of the Same Crop, and Staggered Planting.

All of these methods work best when you keep good garden records. A garden journal is a great way to keep track of all your garden activities. If you are interested in a hard copy, printed, bound journal, you order the East Fork Garden Journal here.

The Harvest and Sow Method

This succession planting method involves growing one first crop to maturity, harvesting it, and filling in that empty space with different crops.

Growers using this method often grow a cool-season crop in the early spring, replace it with a warm season crop for the summer, and then rotate in cool-season fall crops in the late summer.

If you use this method, it is important to take note of the maturity time of each crop. You want to make sure you give each crop enough time to mature before you plant the next crop.

Companion Planting

This succession planting method involves growing different types of crops that compliment each other at the same time in the same garden bed. These plants might have different growth habits or heights or maturity dates.

Planting larger plants next to plants that sprawl on the soil surface allows each plant to take advantage of it’s growth habit without competing with the neighboring plants.

For example, at the East Fork, we plant pumpkins and squash in between the corn rows.

The pumpkin and squash vines sprawl under and around the corn stalks, suppressing weeds with their large leaves, and holding in soil moisture. The corn grows taller than the squash, so it still receives all the sunlight it needs.

Planting two crops in the same garden space is mutually beneficial to each plant. Growing two crops in one space maximizes production.

Bush beans can grow in between rows of tomato plants. This is also a great way to use companion planting to maximize production.

Growing root crops like carrots, potatoes, or onions next to climbing plants like peas or beans allows each plant to take advantage of different soil levels.

Different Varieties of the Same Crop

This succession planting method involves growing several different varieties of the same crop that have different maturity dates. Planting quick maturing varieties, mid-season varieties, and late season varieties allows for a steady supply of the same crop throughout the growing season.

Since each different variety of the same crop will reach maturity at different times, the harvest window is extended and you don’t get overwhelmed with a large amount of the same crop all at once.

Staggered Planting

Another popular succession planting method is staggered planting. This is simply planting the same crop every few weeks throughout the growing season. This successive planting allows for a continuous and consistent crop instead of one big harvest.

Staggered planting requires some planning using your first frost date and last frost date, and the days to maturity of the crop you are growing. You can find the days to maturity on the back of your seed packet.

By organizing the crops you want to grow, frost dates, the maturity dates, and planting interval, you can plan out your staggered planting dates and get them on your calendar.

You can do this with a simple excel spreadsheet, or you can download the FREE succession planting chart below to plan your planting schedule. This will help you keep track of when to plant your crops throughout the growing season using the staggering planting method.

Best Crops for Succession Planting

It’s important to identify the requirements of each plant you want to grow in your garden. Plants that mature quickly like radishes and lettuce are great for the harvest and sow method.

Plants that take longer to mature like tomatoes and peppers are great for companion planting, different varieties of the same crop, and staggered planting.

Cold Weather Crops vs Warm Weather Crops

If you plan to use the harvest and sow method, understanding which plants are cold hardy is important. Some plants can’t survive a frost or cooler weather (like tomatoes), and some plants don’t do well in hot weather (like leafy greens).

While you can use a row cover to extend your planting windows, it is important to time your plantings to set your plants up for success.

Cool season crops like salad greens are a great option for late spring and fall harvest. Warm season crops are a great option for summer harvests.

You get a head start with some warm weather crops by starting them from seed indoors. We start our tomatoes and peppers indoors before our last frost date, and plant them outside after all danger of frost has passed. Learn more about starting tomatoes from seed here.

Cold Weather Plants

• Beets
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard

Warm Weather Plants

• Beans
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Peppers
• Pumpkins
• Sweet Potato
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon
• Zucchini

Soil Considerations

If you use succession planting methods in your garden, don’t forget to feed your soil. Maximizing production means that you are pulling nutrients out of your soil, so adding organic matter, compost, and mulch is important to maintain soil health.

Extend Harvests and Reduce Overwhelm

By using succession planting methods in your garden beds, you can extend your harvest and maximize production on each square foot of your garden. Imagine a steady supply of fresh vegetables across the entire growing season rather than a huge influx of produce in the late summer.

Growing cool-season plants in the early spring and late fall can also reduce your garden workload by spreading it out over the growing season. Providing a steady harvest over the growing season also reduces the overwhelm of a large harvest all at once.

The vegetable garden should be a source of joy, not stress, so use these tips to grow and find joy in your garden.

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