Free · in your browser · dates for your ZIP code
Garden Planner
Plan your vegetable garden to scale. Draw your beds, tap squares to plant them at the right spacing, and get the dates to start seeds, plant out and harvest from your ZIP code's frost dates. No account needed.
Garden Planner Pro
Planning more than one bed?
Pro keeps every garden and season, sends a Monday email with the week's jobs, warns you about crop rotation and plans successions. 7 days free.
How the garden planner works
- 01Enter your ZIP code. Your last spring frost and first fall frost come from the nearest NOAA weather station.
- 02Draw your beds: a 4 × 8 ft raised bed is ready to start with, and you can add more of any size.
- 03Pick a crop and tap the squares of a bed. The planner fills them at the right spacing and counts the plants.
- 04Open the calendar: when to start seeds indoors, harden off, plant out, sow and harvest, for every crop, at your dates.
A garden planner that knows your frost dates
Almost every planting date in a vegetable garden counts from two days: the average last frost in spring and the first frost in fall. Tomatoes go out after the last frost; peas and spinach go in weeks before it; fall broccoli counts back from the first frost.
This planner looks those dates up for your ZIP code from NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals [1], names the weather station they come from, and offers a safer date for gardeners who'd rather not risk a late frost. Then it dates every crop in your beds. Look up your frost dates on their own, or see where the dates come from.
Square foot or rows
Each bed is a grid of one-foot squares. In square-foot mode a square holds 1 tomato, 4 lettuces or 16 carrots, the intensive spacing raised beds are made for. In rows mode the planner uses the classic in-row and between-row spacing of a dug garden instead. Plan a raised bed or lay out a row garden.
Questions
Is the garden planner free?
Yes. One garden with up to 6 beds, the full crop library, frost dates for your ZIP code and the whole planting calendar are free, with no account. Pro adds more gardens and beds, next year's plan with crop-rotation warnings, succession sowings and a weekly reminder email.
Where do the frost dates come from?
From NOAA's 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals: for each weather station, the dates with a 50% and a 10% chance of a freeze (32 °F) after them in spring, and before them in fall. The planner uses the station nearest your ZIP code and tells you which one it is.
What's the difference between typical and safer dates?
With the typical (50%) last-frost date, half of years still have a frost after it. With the safer (10%) date, only one year in ten does. The safer date is usually one to three weeks later in spring and earlier in fall.
Do I need an account?
No. Your garden is saved in your browser. A free account keeps it safe across devices and when your browser clears its storage, which Safari does after a week without a visit.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Choose a crop, then tap or drag across the squares of a bed. Two fingers move and zoom the layout. The calendar is a simple list you can tick off in the garden.
Can I plan a fall garden?
Yes. Crops that suit a fall crop, like lettuce, kale, broccoli and garlic, can be switched to a fall planting, and their dates count back from your first fall frost.