Garden Center at S Attleboro #2659

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. Plan your garden to 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 S Attleboro can help you enjoy your spring activities to the fullest.

Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
The first thing to learn 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. You'll have good results with plants that have your zone number or less. In other words, a Zone 5 garden can support plants listed as Zones 1–5. You can plant seeds indoors roughly a month before you can plant them outside, or direct sow. Always read your seed packet for details. If you start them later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it will likely even out as time passes.

Gardening in Your Growing Zone
In Zone 5, which includes parts of Pennsylvania as well as upstate New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and southern Maine, your best bets for veggies will be root vegetables like beets and carrots, leafy greens including lettuce, and cruciferous veggies like broccoli and kale. You can try squash, but prepare for additional warming upkeep when late frost is forecast. Planting dates are roughly mid-March through May 1st, depending on whether you're starting your seeds indoors or direct sowing.

Much of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, southern New York state, and New Jersey are in Zone 6, so planting can begin earlier there than farther north. Parts of Virginia are even warmer, coming in at Zone 7. The outdoor growing season doesn't begin until mid-March or even April, although you can plant some veggie seeds halfway through February. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, onions, and other classic garden crops will thrive in this region, and most of them can get an early start indoors before spring really moves in.

Plant Seeds Outside With Direct Sow
Planting seeds into your garden soil, or using the direct sow method, is an alternative option. It doesn't give you as much organized planning in terms of reliability and spacing compared to indoor starts. However, if you like to go with the flow, follow the instructions on your seed packet and try it out.

Your seeds might get washed away or struggle to grow, or animals or insects might eat the sprouts. But if you're really lucky, you might get strong sprouts, perfectly spaced and ready to grow all spring. The reality of your garden will usually be somewhere in between, and spreading out tiny sprouts throughout the soil isn't so bad. You know those sprouts are primed to survive and hardy, although there are no guarantees in the long term.

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 sun and rain. Keep your seeds warm with warming 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
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 three or four 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. These large seedlings that are ready to be planted can also be called "transplants" or sometimes "starts." 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 it off with compost and mulch. Mulch controls weeds and keeps the soil moist. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. It may help foster stronger 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 right 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 fertilizer, soil, and seeds you need in the aisles of your S Attleboro Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.