Garden Center at Boerne #6556

On those beautiful days, clean up the yard before everything blooms in earnest. Many people feel inspired to refresh their outdoor space for entertaining, as well. Planning your garden lets you make the most of your time and space. Remember to measure your garden so you can find fresh mulch near you as soon as it's available. No matter what outdoor projects you choose to tackle, The Home Depot Garden Center in Boerne can help you enjoy your spring activities to the fullest.

Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
The first thing you should know when planting vegetables, spring flowers, and other seeds is your planting zone. Every location in the U.S. and its territories is sorted into blocks by climate. Find your zone on the USDA zone map and learn when to plant seeds.

For example, you could transplant bell peppers outdoors in mid-March in Zone 10, but not until the end of May in Zone 4. For best results, choose plants in your zone number or less. In other words, a Zone 9 garden can support plants listed as Zones 1–9. You can plant seeds indoors roughly a month before you can plant them outside, or direct sow. Be sure to read your seed packet for details. If you start plants later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it should even out as time passes.

Gardening in Your Growing Zone
Growing season starts early and ends late in this part of the country. The weather and climate make it easy to get and keep a beautiful garden. A wide variety of veggies, flowers, and plants thrive in the Gulf region. If you've got good soil drainage, you can even grow citrus trees. You'll have excellent results with peppers of all heat levels and colors, including jalapeños, bell peppers, and more. Cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and pumpkins, which are direct sow only, will flourish. Tomato plants will yield thriving leaves and fruit, as they're tropical in origin and love the heat.

In balmy Zones 9 and 10, you can begin planning and planting indoors in January if you’d like. Zone 8 generally has a slightly later recommendation for indoor starts. Cruciferous veggies and garden favorites, like peppers, do well when started inside your home. Greens like spinach, artichokes, and fragrant herbs, including oregano, basil, and parsley, also don't mind an early beginning.

You can sow spring flower seeds and watch them mature under the grow lights, too. In this part of the country, your garden might still be growing if there's no reason to put it to bed — especially if it's close to the house or in a greenhouse. In that case, tend it as usual. Whatever you choose to grow, transplant them after the last frost.

Plant Seeds Outside With Direct Sow
Planting seeds with the direct sow method, right into the soil, is another option. There's less tending and planning than growing indoors. If you like to go with the flow, follow the instructions on your seed packet and try it.

Prepare to deal with whatever hand nature deals you: You might have no germinating seeds. A critter may snack on the seedlings. All the seeds you plant in each hole may sprout, so you'll need to thin them out by only leaving the most robust sprouts. Insects or garden pests might make a meal out of your seedlings before they take off. But if you're lucky, you'll get strong sprouts that are ready to grow all spring.

Start Seeds Indoors
If you'd like more control over your seedlings' journey or you're eager to get growing, start your seeds indoors instead. In general, you can plant seeds indoors about a month before you can do it outside. Like direct sow, you push the seeds into the soil as directed on the seed packet, but that's where the similarities end.

You're responsible for giving them quality substitutes for rain and sunlight. Keep your seeds warm with heat mats and grow lights, water them carefully with a mister or watering can, then thin them as they germinate in groups of three. Give them a boost with a gently blowing fan as they lengthen into sprouts if you'd like. Harden them off to get them used to outdoor conditions, then transplant them into your garden when they're big enough.

Transplant Young Plants Into Their New Homes
You've raised your baby plants from seeds, watched them sprout, and carefully hardened them off to brave Mother Nature. By now, your plants have 3 or 4 true leaves — they'll look different from the miniature seedling leaves. When you're not expecting soaking rain, and the ground is warm, look into transplanting your small plants into their new outdoor home. "Transplant" means that you put these small plants straight into the garden soil or into pots. In cases where you direct sowed, you may still want to shuffle plants around for the best sun and spacing. That's also a transplant situation, as is repotting plants into larger pots.

Protect Your Garden With Mulch
Finish off your garden with compost and mulch. Mulch keeps your soil moist and controls weeds. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. It may help foster stronger plants that bear more fruit and flowers. Compost and mulch can be DIY creations, but you can also purchase them in-store. The next time you're looking for "mulch near me," stop by the Garden Center to get the perfect amount.

Greet the Spring
Early spring is an exciting time in the world of gardening. Don't miss a minute of growing season. Plan your garden and landscaping, prepare to fertilize your lawn, and browse our garden center pages to find inspiration on what to plant when the weather warms. Shop for the soil, fertilizer, and seeds you need in the aisles of your Boerne Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.