Plan Next Year’s Garden Now: 10 Things to Do This Fall for a Better Garden Next Spring
Plan next year's garden this fall with 10 simple fall garden planning ideas. Discover how to improve plant combinations, add seasonal color, plan perennials, and create a more beautiful garden next spring.
GARDENING
9/26/20266 min read
Fall isn't just the end of the gardening season—it's also one of the best times to plan next year's garden. A little fall garden planning now can help you create better plant combinations, more seasonal color, and a garden that's easier to enjoy next spring and summer.
While your garden is still fresh in your mind, take a walk around your yard and look at what worked, what didn't, and what you'd like to change. Planning next year's garden now gives you time to identify empty spaces, rethink plant combinations, and decide what you'd like to add or move before spring arrives.
Planning these changes now can make spring gardening easier and help you create a garden you'll enjoy even more next year.
Here are 10 things you can do this fall to start planning your next garden season.
1. Take Photos of Your Garden
Before your perennials completely die back, take photos of your flower beds, foundation plantings, containers and other garden areas.
Photographs can help you remember exactly where plants are growing and make it easier to spot gaps, crowded areas and places that need more color.
Take a few wide photos of the entire garden as well as closer pictures of areas you may want to change.
GardenGurl Tip: Create a folder on your phone called “Garden Ideas for Next Year” and save your photos there. I also keep a file folder full of information on each plant I put in my garden.
2. Look for Empty Spots
Fall is a great time to notice areas of the garden that felt empty during the growing season.
Did one section stop blooming in midsummer? Was there a bare area after your spring flowers faded? Does the front of a border need something lower-growing?
Write these areas down or mark them on a simple garden sketch.
Next year, you can fill those spaces intentionally instead of buying plants and then trying to figure out where to put them.
3. Decide What Needs to Be Moved
Sometimes a perfectly good plant is simply growing in the wrong place.
A perennial may be too tall for the front of the garden, too crowded by neighboring plants or struggling because it isn't receiving the right amount of sunlight.
Make a list of plants you'd like to move or divide next season.
You don't necessarily have to move everything this fall. The important thing is identifying the problem while you can still see the garden clearly.
4. Notice Where You Need More Color
Think about your garden throughout the entire growing season.
Did you have plenty of spring flowers but very little color in August?
Was your garden beautiful during summer but nearly empty in early spring?
Planning for a succession of blooms can help your garden stay colorful for much longer.
For example, you might combine spring bulbs with peonies and iris for late spring, daylilies and coneflowers for summer, and sedum and other late-season performers for fall. Don't forget trees and shrubs for winter interest!
The goal isn't to have everything blooming at once. It's to have something interesting happening throughout the season.
5. Garden Planning Ideas for Better Plant Combinations
Instead of choosing plants one at a time, start thinking about them in combinations.
Combine plants with different heights, flower shapes, foliage textures and bloom times.
For example, a taller shrub or ornamental grass can provide structure in the back of a bed, medium-height perennials can fill the center, and catmint, hardy geraniums or other lower-growing plants can soften the front edge.
Repeating a few plants throughout the garden can also make the entire landscape feel more connected.
These simple garden planning ideas can help create a more balanced landscape with color, texture, and interest throughout the growing season.
6. Look at Your Garden's Height and Structure
Flowers aren't the only thing that makes a garden beautiful.
Trees, shrubs, evergreens and ornamental grasses provide structure even when flowers aren't blooming.
Stand back and look at your garden from the house, driveway, patio or sidewalk.
Does everything seem to be the same height? Is there an area that needs a taller focal point? Does your foundation planting need more year-round structure?
Fall is a good time to identify where your landscape could benefit from stronger shapes and layers.
7. Make a Plant Wish List
Now comes the fun part.
Start a list of plants you'd like to add next year.
Instead of choosing a plant simply because it catches your eye at the garden center, take a moment to think about what your garden truly needs. For more plant combinations, garden ideas, and seasonal inspiration, explore my Designing Your Dream Garden Blog or follow @Garden16Gurl on Pinterest.
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Consider:
Sun or shade requirements
Your USDA hardiness zone
Mature plant size
Bloom time
Flower color
Foliage texture
Maintenance requirements
Wildlife value
For my Zone 4 garden, cold hardiness is always one of the first things I consider when choosing new perennials, shrubs and trees. This is so important! There is nothing more discouraging that getting a plant that does not survive the zone that you live in. Be sure to check your areas hardiness zone and always purchase your plants based on it.
A thoughtful plant list can also help prevent impulse purchases that don't have a good place in your garden.
8. Plan for More Spring Color
If you find yourself wishing for more flowers every spring, fall is the time to do something about it.
Spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils, crocus, tulips and alliums are generally planted in fall so they can establish before winter and bloom the following spring.
Look at your garden photos and identify areas where bulbs could provide early-season color before your perennials fully emerge.
Planting bulbs among established perennials can create layers of color without requiring an entirely new garden bed.
For more ideas, visit my GardenGurl guide to The Best Spring Bulbs to Plant This Fall in Zones 4–5.
9. Sketch and Plan a Perennial Garden for Next Year
You don't need professional landscape-design software to plan a beautiful garden.
A simple piece of paper works just fine. If you prefer a more organized method I suggest a garden planner.
Draw the approximate shape of your garden bed and mark the plants that are already there. Then note where you'd like to move plants, add shrubs, create groups of perennials or introduce new colors.
If you want to plan a perennial garden, start by marking your existing plants and then identify the spaces where new colors, heights, or textures could improve the overall design.
Keep mature plant sizes in mind so the garden doesn't become overcrowded.
Even a rough sketch can help you visualize your ideas before you start buying plants.
10. Keep Notes About What Worked
Finally, make a quick list of your garden's biggest successes and disappointments from this year.
Which plants bloomed beautifully?
Which combinations did you love?
Which plants struggled?
Where did weeds become a problem?
Which areas required too much maintenance?
What would you definitely plant again?
These notes can become one of your most useful gardening tools next spring.
Every garden teaches us something. Keeping track of those lessons helps make each gardening season a little better than the last.
Don't Try to Change Everything at Once
Once you start planning, it's easy to create a very long list of garden projects.
You don't have to complete all of them next year.
Choose one or two areas that would make the biggest difference and start there. You might improve one perennial border, redesign a foundation bed or add more spring color to the front yard.
Gardens develop over time, and that's part of what makes gardening so enjoyable.
Start Your Spring Garden Planning This Fall
By spring, it can be surprisingly difficult to remember exactly what your garden looked like the previous summer. Starting your spring garden planning in fall gives you the advantage of seeing what worked while this year's garden is still fresh in your mind.
That's why fall is such a useful time to plan.
Take your photos, make a few notes, start your plant wish list and sketch some ideas while you can still see what worked and what you'd like to improve.
Then, when those first warm spring days arrive, you'll already have a plan.
For more garden-planning inspiration, explore Designing Your Dream Garden: 20 Shade-Loving Perennials to Brighten Your Garden and The Best Spring Bulbs to Plant This Fall in Zones 4–5 on GardenGurl.com.
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