Garden Center at Murrieta #668

Set Up For Springtime
It's time to start thinking of spring. Clean the shed and sweep out the gazebo to prepare for warmer temperatures, sprouts poking up, and fragrant breezes. Planting seeds indoors means you'll be ready to transplant spring annuals and young veggie plants when the frosts are through and the ground thaws. You might even want to plant organic seeds directly into the earth. What better way to start than by exploring your favorite local plant nursery, The Home Depot Garden Center in Murrieta?

Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
The first thing to learn when planting spring flowers, vegetables, 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 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 — plus all the zones numbered less than that. 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, known as direct sow. Be sure to read your seed packet for details. If you start them later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it should even out as time passes.

Gardening in Your Growing Zone
The southernmost part of California is primarily in Zones 9 and 10, with small areas of 6–8 sprinkled in near Palm Springs and San Bernadino. A temperate Mediterranean climate on the coast means it's usually gorgeous gardening weather and excellent for growing. Areas in the mountains and desert are more challenging to grow vegetables in, but indoor gardening is an excellent workaround.

For more temperate areas, find your planting zone and prepare to get planting. The climate and weather make it easy to get and keep a beautiful garden. A wide variety of plants, flowers, and veggies thrive in southern California. If you've got good soil drainage, you can even grow citrus trees. You’ll have excellent results with peppers of all colors and heat levels, including bell peppers, jalapeños, and more. Cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and pumpkins, which are direct sow only, will flourish. Planting tomatoes will yield thriving leaves and fruit, as they’re tropical in origin and love the heat.

In the desert, native plants like succulents, cacti, and other hardy desert shrubs will grow outside with ease. Other beloved garden vegetables love the heat. 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, both annuals and perennials, 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 space and reliability as starting indoors. However, if you like to go with the flow, follow the instructions on your seed package 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 lucky, 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 and hardy, 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 in your own seedling garden. 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 cozy with heat 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. "Transplant" means that you put these small plants straight into the garden soil or into pots. In cases where you directly planted into the ground, you may still want to shuffle plants around for the best spacing and sun. That's also a transplant situation, as is repotting plants into larger pots.

Protect Your Garden With Mulch
Finish your flower bed with compost and mulch. Mulch keeps your soil from drying out and controls weeds. 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 perfect amount.

Greet the Spring
Don't miss a minute of growing season. Plan your garden and landscaping, prepare to fertilize your lawn, and browse The Home Depot nursery to find inspiration on what to plant when the weather warms. For those without lawns, consider adding artificial grass or a pellet grill to your outdoor space. Shop for the seeds, fertilizer, and soil you need in the aisles of your Murrieta Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.