June Planting Guide by Zone
Click on your Zone for details.
Zones 1 – 4
- Harden off and then set out transplants of melons, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and squash.
- All vegetable crops, including warm-season plants, can go in the ground now.
- Sow more seeds mid-month for a continuous crop of lettuce, radishes, and spinach. Pull any bolted lettuce, spinach, or radish plants, then re-seed at the end of the month for more production later.
- Fertilize and water any container vegetables regularly. Remember, they don’t have deep soil resources like garden plants, so you must feed them more often.
- Enjoy asparagus right in the garden—even uncooked, it’s delicious.
- Side dress asparagus and rhubarb with aged manure.
- Harvest early-season fruits and vegetables. Protect ripening strawberries from birds with bird netting.
- Plant seeds of warm-weather crops, such as melons and squash.
- Near the month’s end, plant cilantro to put in the salsa you’ll make later.
- Stake or cage tomatoes and other veggies and flowers that tend to sprawl.
- Mulch beds as soon as the soil warms up.
- Weed your gardens regularly, as the weeds will compete with your plants for water and nutrients.
- Thin your seedlings to their proper spacing to avoid overcrowding. Clip or snip extra seedlings; don’t pull them to avoid disturbing neighboring seedlings you want to keep. Give them a good watering when the job is finished to help the roots of the remaining plants recover from any damage the thinning inflicted.
- Remove dead flowers from plants to encourage new growth.
- Remember to water your plants. It is better to water thoroughly every few days to establish a deep root system. However, do not overwater. Water slowly, deeply (5 or 6 inches deep), and let the soil almost dry between waterings. A small investment in a drip system with a timer will pay serious dividends soon.
- Apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch – preferably wood chips or straw – around the roots of your plants. The mulch retains moisture during the dry summer months.
Zones 5 – 6
- All vegetable crops, including warm-season plants, should be in the ground now. Sow more beans, carrots, and beets for a continuous harvest.
- Harvest daily from asparagus plants in mature, well-producing patches. Use a sharp knife to cut just under the soil level to encourage more growth next year. Stop cutting asparagus when the yield decreases and the spears diminish in size. Top-dress the bed with compost or well-rotted manure.
- Plant bush beans, Brussels sprouts, and late cabbage for autumn harvest.
- Spray tomato plants with compost tea as a foliar feed. Alternatively, use our Milk & Molasses recipe as a soil drench or a foliar fee.
- Cage or trellis tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Use heavy-duty cattle panel fencing or similar for a sturdy heirloom tomato cage—they eat common, lightweight ones for breakfast!
- Replant finished lettuce or spinach beds with okra or a late crop of summer squash.
- Plant a few more runs of corn, beans, and cucumbers. It’s not too late for a faster-maturing variety; you’ll love the late-season flavors!
- Thin crowded plantings of lettuce, carrots, beets, and herbs. Clip or snip extra seedlings; don’t pull them to avoid disturbing neighboring seedlings you want to keep. Give them a good watering when the job is finished to help the roots of the remaining plants recover from any damage the thinning inflicted.
- Spend a few quiet moments with your basil plantings each morning, removing all the clusters of flower buds that form at the stem ends. This encourages nice bushy plants and a continuing supply of leaves.
- Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers can use some nutrients now; a snack of milk & molasses, fish emulsion, or kelp/seaweed emulsion can give them a mid-season boost.
- Plant colorful summer annuals, such as cosmos, marigolds, sage, or petunias.
- Remember to water your plants. It is better to water thoroughly every few days to establish a deep root system. However, do not overwater. Water slowly, deeply (5 or 6 inches deep), and let the soil almost dry between waterings. A small investment in a drip system with a timer will pay serious dividends soon.
- Apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch – preferably wood chips or straw – around the roots of your plants. The mulch retains moisture during the dry summer months. Inspect and replenish depleted mulches applied previously.
- Weed your gardens regularly, as the weeds will compete with your plants for water and nutrients.
- Inventory seeds for the fall garden. Yes, it seems much too early, but planting time will arrive before you think.
Zones 7 – 8
- June is usually the driest and hottest month. Water well, but do not overwater. Water slowly, deeply (5 or 6 inches deep), and let the soil almost dry between waterings. A small investment in a drip system with a timer will pay serious dividends later.
- Plant pole, lima, bush bush beans, and winter squash.
- Start seeds for fall crops of eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes to set out in July.
- Cut and dry thyme, oregano, and mint.
- Replace bolted lettuce with corn, okra, Malabar spinach, short-season melons, and southern peas.
- Apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch – preferably wood chips or straw – around the roots of your plants. The mulch retains moisture during the dry summer months. Inspect and replenish depleted mulches applied previously.
- Direct seed cockscomb, sage, geraniums, and marigolds.
- Plant a cover crop in vacant beds to improve the soil, reduce weeds, and prepare for fall planting.
- Plant mustard and turnips for harvesting tender baby leaves.
- Direct-seed collards and tomatoes for fall harvest. They sprout quickly in very warm soil, often avoiding early-season pests, and produce until frosts.
- Continue planting cantaloupes, corn, cucumbers, okra, southern peas, summer squash, and bush beans.
- Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers can use some nutrients now; a snack of milk & molasses, fish emulsion, or kelp/seaweed emulsion can give them a mid-season boost.
- Plant colorful summer annuals, such as cosmos, marigolds, sage, or petunias.
- Spend a few quiet moments with your basil plantings each morning, removing all the clusters of flower buds that form at the stem ends. This encourages nice bushy plants and a continuing supply of leaves.
- If you haven’t already, plant heat-loving herbs, including basil, rosemary, and Mexican tarragon. Remove faded or dead flowers to encourage new growth.
- Remove any dead/finished vegetable plants from your garden; plant new crops in their place.
Zones 9 – 10
- If you haven’t yet, apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch – preferably wood chips or straw – around the roots of your plants. The mulch retains moisture during the dry summer months. Inspect and replenish depleted mulches applied previously.
- Shade helps keep your garden growing in the extreme heat—especially in places like Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. The shade should be on the south or west side, depending on how your bed is oriented. Shade cloth and inexpensive PVC piping make a huge difference! See Grow Lettuce in Summer for details!
- Look for slow-moving bugs in the cool of the morning. Hand-pick them, then dust below the plants with Diatomaceous earth (a white powder from the fossilized remains of diatoms with a sharp skeleton). Make sure to wear a dust mask so you don’t inhale the dust.
- Start more zinnias, marigolds, and sunflowers to replenish tired flowers in late summer.
- Water plants in the morning so they don’t become susceptible to fungus and insect infestation.
- Plant more heat-tolerant veggies: Swiss chard, Malabar spinach, Aztec spinach, etc.
- Solarize vacant beds by covering moist soil with clear plastic for several weeks. In late summer/early fall, follow up by planting cover crops.
- Harvest your vegetables when they are ripe for the freshest taste to prolong production and avoid pest issues. Beans, peas, squash, cucumbers, and okra are often ready.
- You can still plant okra, southern peas, and lima beans in most locations.
- Plant heat-loving herbs, including basil, rosemary, and Mexican tarragon.
- Remove any dead or finished vegetable plants from your garden. Plant new crops in their place or cover crops to improve the soil and reduce weed pressure.
- Ensure your garden receives 1 inch of moisture weekly, whether by rain or watering. Water slowly, deeply (5 or 6 inches deep), and let the soil almost dry between watering. A small investment in a drip system with a timer will pay serious dividends about now.
- Add some bright colors to your landscape with perennials – zinnia, sage, and blue sage.
Zone Planting Guides
Planting charts for your Zone
Zone 3
Zone 3 is the coldest and shortest of the USDA garden zones.
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Zone 7
Zone 8
Zone 9
Zone 10
USDA Zones vs First & Last Frost Dates
Which to Use and Why
USDA Zone Maps
These guides show the lowest average temperatures recorded in the area over the past 30 years.
They are a good basis for initial planning and comparison but should not be used as the only source of information for choosing what vegetables to grow or when to plant.
The Zone information is helpful when exchanging ideas with gardeners in different zones, as it is user-friendly.
Find your USDA hardiness zone here.
Scroll using your cursor to grab and move the map, then zoom in with the + and – buttons at the top left. Once you can see your town, city, or location, click on the map to see your Zone info in a popup window.
First & Last Frost Dates Tool
This frost dates tool provides detailed and accurate information for sowing seed, transplanting, and using frost protection to extend the growing season.
It includes historical data from numerous regional NOAA weather stations to help determine the likelihood of frost in spring and fall.
Find your First and Last frost dates here.
Enter your ZIP code and scroll down to see general information and the three closest weather stations to you.