Garden Center at Dripping Springs #8995

On those beautiful days, clean up the yard before everything blooms in earnest. Lawn care is often a priority, 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 Garden Center in Dripping Springs can help you enjoy your spring activities to the fullest.

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

For example, you could plant bell pepper seedlings 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. The timeframe to direct sow outdoors in your garden is often around a month later than the indoor start date. Be sure to read your seed packet for details. If you start them a little later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it will 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 vegetables, plants, and flowers thrive in the Gulf region. You can even grow citrus trees for fresh fruit when you plant somewhere with good soil drainage. 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 fruit and leaves, 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 basil, parsley, and oregano, 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 when the threat of frost is gone for the season.

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

Prepare to deal with whatever hand nature deals you: Be ready for all your seeds to sprout, none of them to come up, and anything in between. Your seedlings will need to survive wind, rain, critters and insects that want a crunchy green snack, and sudden cold snaps. But if you're lucky, you'll get strong sprouts that are ready to grow all spring.

Start Seeds Indoors
If you're eager to get growing or would like more control in the care and feeding of seedlings, 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 sun. Keep your seeds cozy with heating mats and grow lights, water them carefully with a spray bottle 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
Carefully take your seedling out of the container. Turn it upside-down or sideways and gently squeeze the plastic to break the seal. If your transplant grew in the garden, dig deeper than you think with your garden trowel and leave plenty of room around the stem. You don't want to damage the roots. Place it into the hole you dug for it, even with the surrounding soil.

Protect Your Garden With Mulch
Finish your flower bed with mulch and compost. Mulch controls weeds and keeps the soil moist. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. It may help foster stronger and larger plants that bear more flowers and fruit. Mulch and compost 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 seeds, fertilizer, and soil you need in the aisles of your Dripping Springs Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.