What to Plant in December USA
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What to plant in December in the USA depends entirely on your zone — this page answers it for every band. December is a planning month across most of the USA. Review the season, order seed, and keep harvesting protected winter crops. In the hot band, winter harvest continues outdoors and light frost protection is occasionally needed.
December planting by region
| Band | Sow outdoors | Start indoors | Plant out | Harvest now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cold band USDA zones 3-5 |
Nothing. | Nothing. | Nothing. | Stored roots and squash; kale under cover. |
|
Mild band USDA zones 6-7 |
Nothing outdoors. | Onions and leeks very late month. | Nothing. | Kale, leeks, parsnips, winter salad under cover. |
|
Hot band USDA zones 8-10 |
Peas, greens, root crops. | Tomatoes for an early spring crop. | Brassica transplants. | Winter greens, brassicas, root crops, citrus. |
December garden jobs
- Write next season's crop rotation before you order seed.
- Order seed early — the best short-season and disease-resistant cultivars sell out.
- Check stored crops monthly and remove anything starting to spoil.
- Service and repair tools and equipment.
- Read back through this year's notes and pick three things to change.
Common December mistakes
- Ordering seed before planning rotation, which leads to buying the wrong crops.
- Leaving stored produce unchecked until something has spoiled the rest.
- Planning purely from catalogues rather than from your own records.
- Forgetting that zones 8-10 can still be sowing outdoors this month.
Turn December's jobs into a written plan. The USA Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF) has frost-date planning pages, bed layouts, crop rotation, a sowing log and a harvest tracker — 74 printable pages.
More USA planting guides
- What to plant in November USA
- What to plant in January USA
- Vegetable Planting Calendar USA
- Vegetable Growing Guides for the USA
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I plant in December?
In zones 9-10, peas, greens and root crops outdoors, and tomatoes indoors for an early spring crop. In colder zones, December is for planning rather than planting.
How far ahead should I order seed?
By December or early January. Popular short-season and disease-resistant cultivars are routinely sold out by February.
What should I do with my garden records now?
Turn them into next season's plan — which beds held which family, what underperformed, and what you ran out of.
Plan your December beds
Turn this month's list into a layout: sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner, then follow the whole season with the USA Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF, 74 pages). For the full year, see the USA vegetable planting calendar, browse every crop in the USA growing guides, or use the USA site directory.
Last updated 25 August 2026
Turn This Month's Jobs Into A Plan
Month-by-month advice works best when it becomes a written sowing list, bed plan, and follow-up task list.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.