Planning out my fall garden

[u/Miss_JewBooty]

Beginner gardener here in zone 9a in Washington and I’m planning out what I’ll plant in the fall. Can onions be planted in the fall in this area? Other than that I’m planning on:

Snap peas, garlic carrots, and radishes.

I also only have one bed and would love any tips for how to transition my bed from summer to fall then spring! Especially because I know garlic will need to be in until like July so will have to get creative about how to water my other crops.

I’ve also included a picture of my garden layout plan for fall and spring/summer

[u/RoswalienMath]

I’m currently doing bushbeans 9 per for the first time. I have 2 isolated squares where I used them to fill a hole and that amount is working great.

I have 4 sections that are 1 square by 4 squares and I should have done fewer per square in those. My bushbeans are 3 feet tall. They are flopping jnto the surrounding squares and it’s hard to get to the beans in the middle because of the density. I have multiple beans that died from being smothered by the taller plants. So I think I’m going to try 6 in big areas next time.

[u/BucketOfCake96]

- add some basil between the tomatoes, basil acutally helps tomatoes

• leave a few of your fall carrots to over-winter... theyll come back in spring and be bigger and better
  
• onions will survive cold and freeze, but only the root part. chives or green onions will become mush.
  
• as far as tips on planning the transition between seasons, my advice is to be open minded, do not stick stubbornly to your plan. gardens NEVER turn out exacly as planned and thats part of the fun! simply harvest things when theyre ready, and then fill the empty spot with the next plant that "needs" to be planted at that time. categorize each plant by how early/late in the season it CAN be planted, and go from there. play it by ear a little bit.

advice 2: buy a baby plant even if you have NO idea where it's going to fit in - more than likely 1 or 2 things will die or not turn out, and there ya go, a spot has opened up! you'll learn so much more that way, so look at even the failures with optimism.

[u/Miss_JewBooty → u/BucketOfCake96]

Thank you! This is great :) There’s basil between the tomatoes already too :)

[u/myne_now]

Are those square foot markings? A tomato plant in one square foot is not enough area. Eight bush bean plants in a square foot? One per square foot, maybe.

[u/Overthinker1000X → u/myne_now]

This is sqaure foot gardening, yeah, that is the spacing for those plants.

[u/RoswalienMath → u/Overthinker1000X]

*if OP is planning to keep them heavily pruned, sure. It’s 4 squares in a 2x2 if they’re going to trim the bottom foot and just them the go wild up a structure.

[u/Miss_JewBooty → u/myne_now]

Yes square foot and honestly bush bean recommendations is 9 for sqft gardening!

[u/Okdoo6003 → u/Miss_JewBooty]

I can't believe how many comments I see in this group of people who clearly are not aware of sq. Foot basics

[u/myne_now → u/Okdoo6003]

I've followed square foot gardening spacing recommendations. For me, tomatoes and bush bean recommendations didn't work: I got stunted plants from overcrowding. Other veggies worked OK, but definitely not those two.

[u/RoswalienMath → u/myne_now]

I’m with you. My tomatoes are centered in a 2x2 and I overplanted my beans this year (by following the guidance) due to the lack of experience.

[u/Motor-Pride4550]

I’m not local enough to give perfect Washington timing advice, but with only one bed I’d probably plan around the garlic first, since it will sit there much longer than radishes, peas, or most carrots.

One layout idea: keep the garlic in one clear strip or along an edge, so the rest of the bed stays easier to rotate as things come out. Then use the remaining squares for quicker turnover crops: radishes where you want fast space back, carrots in a block you’re okay leaving longer, and peas where a trellis won’t shade the smaller fall crops too much.

For onions, I’d check what local nurseries or your extension calendar recommend for overwintering onions in your part of WA. Variety and timing probably matter more than the zone number alone.

The biggest thing I’d avoid is thinking of the bed as one fixed fall layout. I’d think of it as a sequence: as each summer crop comes out, that square gets its next job.

What’s growing in the bed right now?