Garden Center at Danbury #6209

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



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

Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
The first thing you should 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 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. The plants that'll thrive in your area are in your zone, and all the zones numbered less than that. 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 them later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it will 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. Planting dates are roughly mid-March through May 1st, depending on whether you're directly sowing them into your garden or starting your seeds indoors.

Much of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, southern New York state, and Massachusetts 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, peppers, cucumbers, 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 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 pack and try it out.

Your seeds might get washed away or struggle to grow, or insects or critters might eat the sprouts. But if you're really fortunate, you might get a strong sprout from each place you sowed seeds, perfectly spaced and ready to grow all spring. The reality of your sown seeds will usually be somewhere in between, and spreading out tiny sprouts throughout the soil isn't so bad. You know those sprouts are 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 rain and sunlight. Keep your seeds cozy 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 water them well. Blanket the surrounding ground with mulch, marking where the plant is with a tag 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 planting by following it 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 right 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. 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 Danbury Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.