Garden Center at Clifton #908

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. You can also add beauty and interest with hardscaping, stonework, and water features. No matter what outdoor projects you choose to tackle, The Garden Center in Clifton 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 planting 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 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. Read your seed packet for details. If you start them a little later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it should even out as time passes.

Gardening in Your Growing Zone
In Zone 5, which includes parts of Pennsylvania as well as upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, 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. Target planting dates are roughly mid-March through May 1st, depending on whether you're direct sowing or starting your seeds indoors.

Much of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 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 do well 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 with the direct sow method, right into the soil, is another option. It doesn't give you as much organized planning in terms of space and reliability as starting indoors. However, if you like to go with the flow, follow the instructions on your seed packet and try it out.

Prepare to deal with whatever hand nature deals you: Be ready for none of your seeds to sprout, all of them to come up, and anything in between. Your seedlings will need to survive wind, rain, insects and rodents that crave tender greens, and 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 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
When your plants have three or four real leaves — different from miniature seedling leaves – it's time to transplant them. In quality soil, dig a hole that's the same size as the dirt plug where your transplant has been growing. If your ground soil isn't great, dig a slightly bigger hole and fill the extra room with nutrient-rich topsoil. Apply fertilizer as directed. Don't apply more than recommended, as you could burn the plant and kill it instead of helping it along.

Protect Your Garden With Mulch
Finish your garden bed with compost and mulch. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. It may help foster stronger plants that bear more fruit and flowers. Mulch keeps your soil moist 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
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 which spring flowers to plant when the weather warms. Shop for the seeds, soil, and fertilizer you need in the aisles of your Clifton Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.