Every gardening season teaches you something.
Some things work exactly the way you hoped. Some things surprise you. And some things make you say, “Yep, I’m definitely doing that differently next year.”
That is exactly where I am right now.
This season gave me a much clearer picture of what I want my garden to look like next year, what needs more space, what needs better support, what I want to grow more of, and what I can simplify.
My goal is not to have a perfect garden.
It is just to make it a little better every year.
Here are the biggest lessons I’m taking into next season.
1. I’m Adding More Trellises
One of the biggest things I learned this year is that I need more vertical growing space.
I had too many vining plants sprawling across the ground, which made the garden harder to walk through, harder to harvest, and more prone to moisture sitting around the leaves and fruit.
Next year, I want to use more cattle panels and stronger trellising systems for climbing beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other vining crops.
I also want to move away from lightweight tomato cages for heavier tomatoes.
My Roma and beefsteak tomatoes simply needed more support.
Next season, I want more plants growing up instead of out.
2. I’m Giving Zucchini More Space
Zucchini always starts out looking so manageable.
Then suddenly it takes over.
This year, I definitely did not give mine enough room.
Next year I want fewer zucchini plants, more space around each plant, and better vertical support where possible.
I also want to grow more pattypan squash instead of planting as much traditional zucchini.
It gives us more variety without taking over the entire garden with one crop.
3. I’m Moving the Sunflowers
I love sunflowers, but I learned a very important lesson about where I planted them.
They got so tall that they shaded parts of the garden that really needed full sun.
Next year, I’m moving them to a better location where I can still enjoy the height and flowers without sacrificing sunlight for vegetables.
This is one of those things that is hard to picture in spring when every plant is tiny.
By July, the garden looks completely different.
4. I’m Changing How I Grow Potatoes
Potatoes were another learning experience this year.
Next season, I want to grow Kennebec and Blue Gold potatoes.
The biggest thing I need to improve is staying on top of hilling them.
That is one of those garden jobs that seems easy to remember until suddenly the plants are huge and you realize you missed the best timing.
Next year, I want potato hilling built into my garden routine instead of hoping I remember.
5. I’m Moving My Berries Into the Ground
I want more of the garden to become permanent food-producing space.
That means getting berries out of temporary containers and into the ground where they can really establish themselves.
I want raspberries in a permanent area with enough space to spread and a setup that makes sense long term.
I also want to be better about cutting the raspberries back properly in spring.
The more perennial food we can establish now, the less we have to restart every year.
6. I’m Simplifying Cucumbers
I do not need five cucumber varieties.
It sounds fun when you are buying seeds, but it becomes a lot more complicated once everything starts growing.
Next year, I want to stick with one useful variety that works for both fresh eating and pickling.
Something like Calypso or Boston Pickling makes more sense for us.
I would rather grow one variety really well than grow several just because I can.
7. I’m Growing More Herbs
This year really reinforced how useful herbs are in our garden.
Next year, I want much more:
Dill
Basil
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano
Chives
Especially dill.
I always think I planted enough and then realize I absolutely did not.
I also want to add more medicinal herbs like:
Yarrow
Echinacea
Lemon balm
Sage
Instead of squeezing herbs randomly into vegetable beds, I want to give them more intentional spaces, including some of my metal containers.
8. I’m Growing a Lot More Lavender
This one is easy.
I want more lavender.
A lot more.
I love the way it looks, pollinators love it, and it is something I can use for dried bundles, bouquets, and other projects.
It also fits really well with the direction I want the garden to move in long term.
Lavender is definitely getting more space next year.
9. I’m Growing More Melons
We definitely want more watermelon next season.
I’m planning for around four to six watermelon plants.
I also want to grow honeydew and continue growing cantaloupe.
Melons need space, so this is another area where better garden planning matters.
Instead of squeezing them into whatever space is left, I want to decide where they are going before planting season starts.
10. I’m Improving the Flower Garden
The flower side of the garden is going to be more intentional next year too.
I want to grow more:
Snapdragons
Ageratum
Black-eyed Susans
Cosmos
Celosia
Lisianthus
Asters
But the biggest change is not necessarily what I grow.
It is how I plant it.
I need to get much better at succession planting flowers.
This year I planted too much at once, which meant I had a huge flush of flowers followed by gaps later in the season.
Next year, I want to plant flowers in waves so I have blooms for a much longer period.
11. I’m Moving More of the Garden In-Ground
This is probably one of the biggest changes.
I still love raised beds, especially for flowers and certain crops, but I want more of the food garden to move into in-ground rows.
My goal is around eight in-ground rows with a mix of annual vegetables and perennial food crops.
I want the garden to feel less like a collection of separate boxes and more like one connected growing system.
That should also give me more flexibility with spacing and crop rotation.
12. I’m Building More of a Food Forest
Long term, I want more of the garden to produce food without needing to completely restart every spring.
That means adding more perennial crops.
I want:
Figs
Berries
Asparagus
Fruit trees
Perennial herbs
I still want plenty of annual vegetables, but I want them mixed into a garden that already has permanent food-producing plants established.
The goal is to slowly build a garden that gets more productive over time.
13. I’m Paying More Attention to Orientation
One of the biggest lessons from this season is that placement matters just as much as what you plant.
Tall crops need to be where they will not shade smaller crops.
Vining crops need supports that are positioned correctly.
Perennials need permanent spaces that make sense five years from now, not just this spring.
Next year, I want to plan the garden based on what it will look like in July, not what it looks like when everything is tiny in May.
14. I’m Doing More Succession Planting
This applies to both vegetables and flowers.
Instead of planting everything at once, I want to plant smaller amounts more often.
That means more succession planting with crops like:
Lettuce
Beans
Herbs
Flowers
This should help spread out harvests and blooms instead of having everything ready at the exact same time.
I know this works.
I just need to actually build it into the plan.
15. I’m Growing More of What We Actually Eat
This might be the most important lesson of all.
It is really easy to get excited about seeds and grow something just because it sounds interesting.
But if nobody in the house eats it, I probably do not need an entire row of it.
Next year, I want more space dedicated to the foods we actually use:
Tomatoes
Herbs
Melons
Potatoes
Berries
I still want to experiment, but most of the garden needs to have a purpose.
What I’m Keeping the Same
Not everything needs to change.
I still want flowers mixed throughout the garden.
I still want pollinator-friendly plants everywhere.
I still want vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers growing together instead of treating them as completely separate gardens.
And I still want the garden to be beautiful.
Productivity matters, but I also want this to be somewhere I enjoy spending time.
My Biggest Garden Lesson This Year
If I had to sum up the entire season in one sentence, it would be:
Plan for the mature garden, not the spring garden.
Everything looks tiny in May.
Then July shows up.
Suddenly the zucchini is huge, the sunflowers are towering over everything, the tomatoes are collapsing under their own weight, and the cucumbers are trying to climb anything they can reach.
Next year, I want to give plants more space, use more vertical supports, and be much more intentional about where everything goes.
Gardening Is Supposed to Be a Learning Process
One of my favorite things about gardening is that you never really finish learning.
Every season gives you another chance to adjust.
Some things work better than expected.
Some completely fail.
And sometimes the thing you were completely sure would work becomes the first thing you change the following year.
So if your garden did not go perfectly this season, that does not mean it was a bad year.
Take pictures.
Write down what worked.
Write down what did not.
And use those lessons to make next year’s garden just a little bit better.
That is exactly what I’m doing.
Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing the process as I redesign the garden, plan our new rows, choose varieties, order seeds, and get everything ready for another season.
You can also watch the full What I’m Changing in My Garden Next Year | Lessons From This Season video on The Garden Next Door to see everything I’m planning and why.
And I’d love to know:
What is one thing you’re changing in your garden next year?
