When summer starts winding down, it’s tempting to look at the garden and think the season is pretty much over.
But fall has other plans.
Depending on where you live, there may still be time to grow another round of vegetables, harvest crops well into cooler weather, plant a few things for next year, and give your garden beds a head start on spring.
And honestly, there’s something I love about gardening this time of year. The frantic growth of summer begins to slow down. The weeds aren’t quite as determined to take over your life. Cooler temperatures make working outside a whole lot more enjoyable.
But fall gardening does require a slightly different strategy.
Instead of simply asking, “What can I plant in fall?”, start with a better question:
How much time do I have before my first frost?
That one date can help you decide what’s worth planting, what needs protection, what should be harvested soon, and what you can start doing now for next year.
So before you put away the garden gloves, let’s get your garden ready for fall.
Start With Your First Frost Date
Your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone is useful for understanding how cold your winters typically get and which perennial plants can survive in your climate.
But when you're deciding what you can plant right now, your average first frost date is much more useful.
Find your area's average first frost date and count how many days you have between now and then.
Then compare that number with the days to maturity listed on your seed packet.
Keep in mind that fall crops don't always grow as quickly as they do during the long, sunny days of spring and summer. As daylight decreases and temperatures cool, growth slows.
Think of the number on your seed packet as a starting point rather than a deadline.
👉👉👉 If you're planning your garden earlier in the season, I also have a guide to what you can plant before your first frost based on how many growing days you have remaining.
What Can You Plant Before Your First Frost
Instead of organizing your fall garden strictly by growing zone, I prefer looking at the number of growing days you have left.
60+ Days Before Frost
You may still have time for crops such as:
- Beets
- Carrots
- Turnips
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Leaf lettuce
- Some broccoli or cabbage transplants
Choose faster-maturing varieties whenever possible.
30–60 Days Before Frost
Now is the time to concentrate on quicker-growing and cool-season crops.
Depending on your climate and variety, possibilities include:
- Radishes
- Leaf lettuce
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Mustard greens
- Asian greens
- Baby kale
- Turnip greens
Some crops can also be harvested young rather than waiting for them to reach full size.
Less Than 30 Days Before Frost
Don't assume you're finished just because frost is getting close.
Your options become more limited, but this is a good time to experiment with very fast-growing greens, season extension, and crops intended to overwinter rather than produce a full fall harvest.
This is also when I start shifting my attention from:
What else can I grow?
to:
What can I do now to make next year's garden better?
Know What Frost Means For Your Garden
Not every plant reacts to frost the same way.
Warm-season vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and basil are much more vulnerable to cold temperatures.
Other vegetables tolerate cooler weather surprisingly well.
Kale, spinach, carrots and several other cool-season crops can tolerate cold conditions, and some vegetables can even taste sweeter after exposure to cold weather.
That means your first frost doesn't necessarily mean the entire garden is finished.
Watch your local forecast and prioritize harvesting your tender crops first.
If a light frost is predicted, covering vulnerable plants may buy you additional growing time.
Harvest What You Don't Want To Lose
Before the first significant cold weather arrives, walk through your garden and take inventory.
Look for:
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Beans
- Summer squash
- Tender herbs
- Anything else you don't want to risk losing overnight
This is also the perfect time to think about preserving what you've grown.
Freeze it. Dry it. Can it. Turn it into sauce. Make pesto. Share it with somebody who didn't spend the entire summer fighting tomato hornworms.
The goal is simply not to let a forecasted frost catch you with a garden full of food you intended to harvest.
Extend Your Garden Instead of Giving Up On It
Sometimes a few degrees are all that separate another week or two of harvesting from the end of the season.
That's where season extension comes in.
Depending on what you're growing, you can experiment with:
Row Covers
Lightweight row covers can provide some protection while still allowing light and water through.
Cloches
Individual plants can be protected beneath cloches or similar covers during cold nights.
Cold Frames
A cold frame creates a protected growing environment and can extend the usefulness of your garden beyond what you'd get from an uncovered bed.
Mulch
A layer of straw, shredded leaves or other appropriate mulch helps insulate the soil and protect roots as temperatures fall.
Just remember that covers aren't magic. Pay attention to daytime temperatures as well—you don't want plants overheating beneath protection on a warm sunny day.
Here is an article on protecting your garden from the cold weather.
Don't Throw Away Those Fall Leaves
This might be one of my favorite free garden resources.
Leaves.
Every fall people rake enormous piles of them to the curb while gardeners spend money buying materials to improve their soil.
I'll happily take the leaves. 😂
Shredded leaves can be used as mulch, added to compost, or incorporated into the organic materials you're using to build future garden beds.
If your neighbors bag clean leaves for disposal, ask whether you can take them.
Your spring garden may thank you.
Feed Your Garden Beds Before Winter
Once summer crops are finished, you don't have to leave the soil bare until spring.
Fall is a wonderful time to add organic matter.
Depending on your garden, that might include:
- Finished compost
- Shredded leaves
- Appropriate aged manure
- Mulch
- Cover crops
- Other clean organic materials
And this is where my slightly unconventional gardening method comes in.
I built one of my most productive tomato beds by layering materials I already had—cardboard, leaves, grass clippings, compost, aged horse manure and even my terrible native clay soil.
What started as my “Dump Garden Bed” eventually became a productive no-dig bed.
If you're staring at poor soil this fall, this is actually a great time to start building it.
Read: The No-Dig Dump Garden Bed Method: How I Grew Abundant Tomatoes in Poor Soil With Lasagna Gardening
Building a layered bed in fall gives organic materials months to begin breaking down before you're ready to plant again.
What Should You Remove From the Garden
Fall cleanup doesn't necessarily mean stripping every garden bed completely bare.
I remove material that I don't want carrying problems into another season, particularly obviously diseased plant material.
Healthy organic material can sometimes serve another purpose in the garden or compost pile.
It's also a good time to:
- Pull persistent weeds before they seed
- Remove plant supports you won't need
- Clean up broken pots and garden debris
- Empty and clean containers
- Clean and store tools
- Organize stakes, cages and trellises
- Make notes about what worked—and what absolutely did not
That last one is easy to skip.
Every spring I think I'm going to remember everything from the previous garden.
I don't. 😄
Write it down.
Plant Now For Next Year
One of the best parts of fall gardening is that not everything you plant needs to produce this year.
For many gardeners, fall is the season for planting things that will reward you next spring and summer.
Depending on your climate and timing, that can include:
Garlic
Garlic is traditionally planted in fall in many colder climates so it can establish before winter and resume growing in spring.
Here is my Garlic Growing Guide article.
Spring-Flowering Bulbs
Tulips, daffodils, alliums and other spring-flowering bulbs are planted in fall according to their individual growing requirements.
Cover Crops
Depending on your climate and planting date, a suitable cover crop can protect soil and add organic matter.
Perennials
Fall can also be a useful time for planting or dividing certain perennial plants while the soil is still workable.
And if dahlias are part of your garden, I already have a complete guide for dealing with those before winter:
How to Properly Save Dahlia Tubers + Free Printable Tuber Tags.
Prepare Now For An Easier Spring
This is probably my favorite reason to work in the fall garden.
Every job I finish now is one less thing waiting for me when spring arrives.
Imagine walking outside next spring and finding beds that already have organic matter breaking down, tools that are clean and organized, garlic beginning to emerge, and a garden plan waiting for you.
That's much nicer than discovering last year's tomato cages frozen behind the shed.
Ask yourself:
What can I do today that Future Me will be extremely happy I already did?
Then do that.
Want A Simple Garden Plan?
There are a lot of little things to remember between the end of summer and winter.
What needs harvesting?
What can still be planted?
What needs protection?
What should be cleaned up?
What can be planted for next year?
That's why I created the Fall Garden Prep Kit—a printable guide you can keep with your garden planner instead of trying to remember everything at once.
Inside the kit:
👉 Get the Fall Garden Prep Kit
Final Thoughts
Fall doesn't mean the garden is finished.
It means the job changes.
Instead of spending all our time planting and watering, we're harvesting, protecting, composting, mulching and preparing.
Some plants are finishing their season.
Others are just getting started.
And beneath all those leaves and layers of organic matter, next year's garden can already be taking shape.
So don't hang up those gardening gloves quite yet.
Check your first frost date.
Harvest what needs harvesting.
Plant what still has time.
Protect what you can.
And give your soil a little something to work on while you're inside staying warm this winter.
Spring-you will be very glad you did.
Happy fall gardening, friends. 🍂
— Theresa
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