Garden Center at Rochester,NH #3489

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. 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 Rochester, NH 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 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 5 garden can support plants listed as Zones 1–5. 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 plants 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 cabbage 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 directly sowing them into your garden or starting your seeds indoors.

Much of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, 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, 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. There's less tending and planning 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 struggle to grow or get washed away, or critters or bugs 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 primed to survive, 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 sun. Keep your seeds warm with warming 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 area with mulch, marking where the plant is with a stick or tag so you can easily find it among the grass clippings, old leaves, or straw. Consider putting up chicken wire or other protective measures if rabbits, squirrels, deer, or chipmunks visit your yard regularly, as your sprouts may otherwise become a snack.

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