Lunar Gardening: How to Plant With the Moon’s Phases
The phases of the moon can help us plan and track all kinds of things, like tides, magical rituals, and menstrual cycles. If you’re starting a garden, you can add planting to that list.
First, a quick primer on guiding your life by lunar cycles: Generally, when the moon is waxing, or moving from a new moon to a full moon, it’s a great time for growth and beginnings. When it’s waning, or turning darker each night, it’s a time to turn inward and prepare for what’s next. It can be a satisfying way to add a little natural connection to any kind of task or ritual.
Using this basic moon business, you could just choose to keep it simple by planting your seeds or starts during the waxing moon; letting the active energy that comes with it coax your plants’ growth; and switch to mulching, cleaning, weeding, and other more inward tasks on the way back down.
But if you want to get super astrological with it, you can follow the lunar gardening rituals that have been developed by gardeners for years — guided by water, ruling planets, and how individual plants grow.
Guided by gravity
Ocean tides are guided by the gravitational pull of the moon, and some believe this has a big impact on soil moisture and emerging seedlings. According to lunar gardening lore, a full moon will pull moisture to the soil’s surface, helping the seeds absorb more water.
Geotropism is the mechanism of how gravity affects plant growth — and why it’s bad news to plant bulbs upside down. Many gardeners apply this to the moon’s gravitational pull too, burying their bulbs during the waning moon and starting seeds during the waxing moon.
Above and below
Whether because of magical intention, gravity, moisture, or just a oneness with nature, the general guidance from the Old Farmer’s Almanac is to plant above-ground crops as the moon grows brighter to encourage leaves and stems. Crops that you have to dig from the earth, like potatoes, radishes, onions, and carrots, are best planted during the waning moon.
This applies to flowers, too: Plant single-season flowers, or annuals, during the waxing moon. Bulbs, perennials, and biennials have more work to do below the surface, so they go in during the waning moon.
Bringing in the zodiac
Need another planetary layer? If you’re planning your year out in advance, the moon’s position in the zodiac can also play a role. The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s Best Days table lays out some of the best dates to do all kinds of things, from pouring concrete to dyeing your hair, based on the phase and position of the moon.
It suggests harvesting when the moon’s in an earth sign: For example, May 1, when the waning moon is in Capricorn, is a good time to harvest below-ground crops. May 20, when the waxing moon is in Virgo, is a better time for above-ground crops. When the moon is in Capricorn, which rules boundaries, it’s also a traditional time for building and fixing fences and garden beds.
You can also lay out your own schedule based on what makes sense to you.
Plan by your region
Regardless of what the moon’s doing right now, it doesn’t change the climate where you live. If you’re planting outdoors, you can visit your local nursery for guidance, buy a guide specific to your region, or enter your ZIP code into the Almanac’s planting calendar to narrow down your planting dates.
Is all of that too much? Keep it simple indoors: Pot your houseplants during the waxing moon, then clean and fertilize them during the waning moon.
Build up your waxing moon magic with our New Moon playlist on Spotify, then balance out a long day in the dirt with our Yoga for Gardeners playlist, available with a free 14-day trial to Alo Moves.