Garden Center at Carmichael #650

Gardening Gift Sale for Mother's Day
The Home Depot Mother's Day Sale is the perfect time to help Mom upgrade her garden. We've got deals on popular brands of decorative plants, herb plants, and those details that make a garden special: garden decor, flower pots, and planters. If you're on the fence about the right present when searching for Mother's Day gifts, a gift card is a sure-fire winner. Shop The Home Depot Mother's Day Gardening Gifts Sale from May 2nd through May 12th in-store or on our mobile app.



It's time to start thinking of spring. We're here to help you prepare for warmer temperatures, fragrant breezes, and sprouts poking up out of the ground. Planting seeds indoors with grow lights means you'll be ready to transplant spring flowers and young veggie plants when the ground thaws and the frosts are through. You might even want to directly sow organic seeds into the earth.

Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
The first thing to know 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 plant hardiness 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. Always 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
This region ranges from 7–9, with higher elevations in Zones 5 and 6. You’ll find fertile land in some places, desert and mountains with harsher conditions elsewhere. What you can grow and when will vary considerably depending on where you live. In Zones 5 and 6, the outdoor growing season doesn’t begin here until mid-March or even April, although you can start some veggies by seed halfway through February. Warmer Zones 7–9 can plant earlier, but if you’re in the desert, you’ll likely want to investigate indoor gardening in a sunroom or enclosed porch.

Utilize greenhouses to grow herbs and vegetables. Native plants like succulents, cacti, and other hardy desert shrubs will grow outside with ease. Other beloved garden vegetables love the heat, like squash, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. If you start them indoors and carefully introduce them outdoors in the shade, you can enjoy raising vegetables even in a dry climate. However, many flowers are sensitive to that much heat and sun, so research to find varieties that can handle the weather before planting outdoors.

Plant Seeds Outside With Direct Sow
Planting seeds with the direct sow method, right into the soil, is another 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 pouch and give it a try.

Your seeds might get washed away or struggle to grow, or insects or animals might eat the sprouts. But if you're really fortunate, 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, although there are no guarantees.

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 sun and rain. 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
Place your transplants in the ground, then give them a generous drink of water. Blanket the surrounding ground with mulch, marking where the plant is with a tag or stick so you can easily find it among the grass clippings, old leaves, or straw. If your yard is regularly visited by rodents or deer, consider putting up chicken wire or other protective measures so your plants and veggies are less likely to get eaten before they thrive.

Protect Your Garden With Mulch
Finish your garden bed with mulch and compost. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. It may help foster larger and stronger plants that bear more flowers and fruit. Mulch keeps your soil from drying out and controls weeds. Mulch and compost can be purchased in-store or created at home. The next time you're looking for "mulch near me," stop by the Garden Center to get the perfect amount.

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