A little planning turns a pile of seed packets into a garden that produces from spring to fall. These free tools help you lay out beds square by square, time every sowing to your own frost dates, and know when each crop will be ready to pick.
The planners save your plans in your browser, with no account needed, and the calendars adjust to any climate once you enter your frost dates.
Planning & Calendar tools
- Garden PlannerLay out beds, choose plants and check spacing and timing in one place.Open tool →
- Raised Bed PlannerPlan what goes in each raised bed, square by square.Open tool →
- Vegetable Garden PlannerBuild a season-long vegetable plan matched to your frost dates.Open tool →
- Container Garden PlannerMatch plants to pot sizes and estimate potting mix for a patio or balcony.Open tool →
- Garden Layout GeneratorTurn your space and plant list into a bed layout you can adjust.Open tool →
- CalendarMonth-by-month garden tasks timed to your local frost dates.Open tool →
- Planting CalendarWhen to start seeds, transplant and direct sow, based on your frost dates.Open tool →
- Seed Starting CalculatorCount back from your last frost date to find when to start seeds indoors.Open tool →
- Harvest Date CalculatorEstimate when each crop will be ready from its planting date.Open tool →
- Frost Date ToolEnter your frost dates to see your growing season and key planting windows.Open tool →
Planning & Calendar guides
Planting & Seeds
Backyard Garden Ideas: 35 Ways to Transform Your Yard
Backyard garden ideas for every yard: food gardens, flowers, water-wise and wildlife gardens, outdoor living, family spaces, and ideas for small, shady, sloping and budget backyards.
Planting & Seeds
How to Start a Vegetable Garden: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide
Start your first vegetable garden with confidence: choose the right spot, prepare the soil, pick easy crops, plant at the right time and care for it until harvest.
Planting & Seeds
20 Vegetable Garden Ideas for Every Size of Garden
20 practical vegetable garden ideas: layouts, trellises and teepees, themed beds like salsa and pizza gardens, succession planting, season extension and easy-care setups.
Planting & Seeds
Potager Garden: How to Design a French Kitchen Garden
Design a potager, the ornamental French kitchen garden: layout principles, the most decorative vegetables, flowers and edging, sample layouts and seasonal planting.
Soil & Compost
Permaculture Garden: A Practical Guide for Home Gardeners
What permaculture is and how to use it at home: the ethics and 12 principles, zones, sheet mulching, hugelkultur, guilds, water harvesting and perennial food plants.
Planting & Seeds
How to Plan a Vegetable Garden Layout: A Step-by-Step Guide
Plan a vegetable garden that works: choose the site, size beds and paths, place crops by sun and height, plan successions and map it all out.
Where to start
- Find your frost dates with the frost date tool. Almost every other date depends on them.
- Draft a layout with the garden layout generator, then refine it in the raised bed planner or vegetable garden planner.
- Schedule your sowing with the planting calendar and seed starting calculator.
- Follow the year with the gardening calendar, which lists jobs month by month.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start planning my garden?
In winter. That leaves time to order seeds before popular varieties sell out and to start slow crops such as peppers and onions indoors 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost.
Are the garden planners free?
Yes. They are free, need no account, and save your plans in your browser on your device.
How do I know when to plant?
Enter your average last spring and first fall frost dates in the planting calendar. It gives sowing and transplanting dates for each crop.