What to Plant In June [USA Planting Guide]

When you are determining what to plant in June, it is important to take a range of environmental factors – including your USDA planting zone – into account. 

Depending on where you live in the US, June can be the beginning of the outdoors growing season, or mark the beginning of the warm summer harvesting season. For many, the bulk of the sowing and planting will already have taken place. But successional sowing often comes to the fore this month. 

The temperatures during the winter months are just one factor that will tell you what to sow and plant, and when. You also need to take into account all the growing conditions in your particular area, as well as the specifics of your particular garden. 

However, the broad guidelines below should give you some help to get started in developing your own planting plan and schedule for what to plant in June in your garden.

What to Plant In June for Each USDA Planting Zone

Here are our general guidelines on what to plant in June in your USDA planting zone. We’ll go into more detail on where to plant your crops in June, as well as specific vegetable varieties for your garden.

• Zones 1 – 4: Plant out indoors-grown spring/ summer crops into your garden after the last frost date in your area. 
• Zones 5 – 6: Succession sow crops from April for staggered harvests. Plant out warm-season crops sown indoors in previous months. Direct sow tender crops once the weather warms reliably where you live. 
• Zones 7 – 8: Succession sow earlier crops for staggered harvests. Direct sow warm-season crops outdoors if you have not already done so. Sow brassicas and other cool-season crops indoors to transplant into your garden after midsummer for autumn/ winter and next spring cropping. 
• Zones 9 – 10: Things will likely be heating up fast, so hold off planting or sowing outdoors until after midsummer. But, again, consider sowing brassicas and other crops indoors to plant out for the cooler season later. 

Where Should You Sow or Plant In June?

USDA Zones 1 – 4

In zones 1 – 4, the summer season can be short and spring may come relatively late. It is important not to rush to plant outdoors, since late frosts can decimate tender young crops.

In June, however, many areas will be warming sufficiently to place indoors-sown crops outdoors. 

In some areas, you may already have been able to sow hardier spring crops outdoors last month. You may have used cloches or other protection to extend your growing season.

But in some areas, these crops may best be sown indoors and then hardened off and transplanted into your garden beds this month. Just make sure that you are aware of the last frost date in your area, and that you pay attention to the conditions in a given year. 

In some areas, many less-tender crops can also be direct sown in your garden beds in June.

USDA Zones 5 and 6

In zones 5 and 6, June is often the time to turn your attention from indoors sowing and growing to outdoors planting and direct sowing in outside beds.

Warm-season crops sown indoors in April or May will often be hardened off and moved outside this month and planted out in your garden.

In June, you will often also turn your attention to successional sowing cool-season crops that were sown outdoors first in April and May. You may begin to direct sow additional batches of these earlier sown crops in your outdoor growing areas. 

USDA Zones 7 and 8

In zones 7 and 8, June is the month when things will often begin to warm appreciably. In these zones too, however, there is still time for successional direct sowings of spring crops outdoors, before the heat of mid-summer. 

Summer, warm-season crops can still be direct sown outdoors early this month if you have not already done so. 

By June, you may well already be harvesting a range of crops sown earlier in the year. To fill gaps that appear in your garden from next month, you might also consider sowing brassicas (cabbage-family plants) and other cool-season crops to transplant into these gaps in your garden in July or early August. 

USDA Zones 9 and 10

In zones 9 and 10, your vegetable garden will already be in full swing. The weather outside can begin to become very warm this month. Tender new sowings and plantings may struggle.

So often, you will not sow outdoors from now until after midsummer and will focus on the crops already in growth. 

However, as in zones 7 and 8, you might plan ahead in June for the cooler season to come, and start to sow cool-season crops indoors this month to fill gaps in your garden that appear as you harvest over the next couple of months. 

Which Vegetables Can You Sow or Plant in June?

USDA Zones 1 – 4 

• Plant out hardy cabbage family crops, lettuce, radishes, peas, fava beans, and other spring crops sown indoors after the last frost date in your area. 
• Start to direct sow these, root crops like carrots and beets, onions, etc.. in your garden as soon as the soil has warmed sufficiently where you live. 

USDA Zones 5 and 6

• Harden off and plant out indoors-grown summer crops such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, etc… this month. 
• Successional sow further batches of lettuce, radishes, peas, etc. directly in your garden beds. (But cease successional sowing by mid-summer.)

USDA Zones 7 and 8 

• Successional sow further batches of lettuce, radishes, peas, etc. directly in your garden beds. (But cease successional sowing when the weather crops too warm or these cooler season crops will tend to bolt.)
• Direct sow warm-season crops like squash and cucumbers in your garden if you have not already done so. 
• Sow crops like brassicas (cabbage-family plants) indoors this month, to fill gaps in your garden later in summer as you harvest existing crops. 

USDA Zones 9 and 10

• Cease direct sowing and planting outdoors as the summer heat takes hold. 
• But consider sowing crops like brassicas (cabbage-family plants) indoors this month, to fill gaps in your garden as you take your summer harvests, and to plan ahead for the cooler season to come after the heat of summer. 

What Is Succession Sowing?

As you can see from the notes above, for many gardeners in the US, June is a time when you think about successional sowing. 

To keep the soil healthy, we should keep the soil covered, and aim to have a living root in the soil in our gardens for as much of the year as we can. 

This involves some careful planning, to make sure that when we harvest one crop, another crop is ready to take its place. 

Successional sowing is not only about keeping soil covered, however. It is also about making sure we don’t have gluts of particular crops.

When we sow certain crops in staggered batches over time, rather than sowing lots all at once, we can enjoy more prolonged harvests, and won’t have more of a particular crop ready to harvest than we can use. 

Planning for successional sowing can help us make sure we can grow more in the space we have available. 

Wherever you live, planning for year-round sowing, growing and eating can help you to make the most of your garden. So this month, make sure you don’t only think about the next couple of months and summer harvests. Think about planning for the months to come.