Garden Center at S Reno #8560

Celebrate Springtime Gardening
On beautiful spring days, tidy up the yard before everything blooms in earnest. You can also add beauty and interest with hardscaping, stonework, and water features. Don't forget to sweep out the gazebo and clean the shed in preparation for spring, too. No matter what outdoor projects you choose to tackle and which plants you need, when you search for your local plant nursery, you'll find that The Home Depot S Reno Garden Center is the local plant nursery to 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 growing zone map and learn when to plant flower bulbs and 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. 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, known as direct sow. Always read your seed package for details. If you start your plants later than recommended, it's not ideal, but it will likely even out as time passes.

Gardening in Your Growing Zone: Utah, Nevada, and California
This region ranges from Zones 7, 8, and 9, with higher elevations in Zones 5 and 6. You'll find fertile land in some places, but deserts 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 cacti, succulents, and hardy desert shrubs will grow outside with ease. Other beloved garden vegetables love the heat, like peppers, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes. 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 sun and heat, so research to find which varieties can withstand the weather before planting outdoors.

Plant Seeds In Your Garden With Direct Sow
Planting seeds into your garden soil, or using the direct sow method, is an alternative option. There's less planning and tending than growing indoors. If you like to go with the flow, follow the instructions on your seed pouch and try it out.

Prepare to deal with whatever hand nature deals you: You could have no germinating seeds or all of them might sprout. A critter might munch the tender seedlings for a snack. All the seeds you plant in each hole may sprout, so you'll need to choose the most robust sprouts to survive in a process called thinning. Garden pests or bugs might eat your seedlings before they take off. But if you're lucky, you'll get strong sprouts that are ready to grow all spring.

Start Seeds Indoors
You can save money and gain the satisfaction of growing your garden from seeds by starting them indoors in your own plant nursery. We've got all the seed starter supplies you'll need. For best results, you'll want warming mats and grow lights to go with your nursery pots. If you're planting a larger garden, use seed trays — like the ones you see sprouts in at your nearest nursery — to plant tiny soil plugs with seedlings. You can also use pots with potting soil and seed starter mix.

Measure your finger to use it as a ruler. In general, you'll press 3–5 seeds into the soil at the proper depth. Mark where you planted the seeds with a toothpick or plant tag. That way, you'll know where your seeds should pop up. Otherwise, it'll be a surprise when the sprouts push out of the soil.

Strengthen Your Sprouts
When your seedlings aren't ready to go outside yet, you can still prepare them for outdoor life. These micro-seedlings are fragile — only an inch or so high, with the tiniest seedling leaf or two — but they're resilient. Seedlings don't get all this pampering in nature, so they can handle more than you think. However, your sprouts are still babies, so don't go overboard. You can even use an oscillating fan on low to strengthen their stems by mimicking the wind.

Harden Your Seedlings
Once your seedlings measure a few inches tall, start hardening them off. This is a process of gradually introducing them to the outdoors, strengthening them in the long run. Hardening means you're less likely to lose your growing garden during a sudden cold snap.

Transplant Young Plants Into Your Garden
In quality soil, dig a hole that's the same size or bigger than your plant's dirt plug. Carefully remove your transplant without pulling on it, keeping it inside its clump of dirt. Place your transplant in the ground, and fill any extra space with nutrient-rich fertilizer and topsoil, then give it a generous drink without overwatering. Only apply as much fertilizer as is recommended, as too much could kill the plant. Consider putting up wire fencing or other protective measures if deer, squirrels, rabbits, or chipmunks visit your yard, as your sprouts may otherwise become a snack.

Enrich Your Garden With Mulch
Nourish your garden bed with compost and mulch. Compost enriches the soil so your garden can grow even better. Mulch controls weeds and keeps your soil from drying out. It may help foster stronger and larger plants that bear more flowers and fruit. Compost and mulch can be purchased in-store, or you can learn how to make compost DIY-style. The next time you need "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. Prepare to fertilize your lawn, plan your garden and landscaping, and browse your nearest nursery to find inspiration on which spring flowers to plant when the weather warms. If you don't have a lawn, consider adding a pellet grill, an outdoor rug, or artificial grass to your balcony. Shop for the soil, seeds, and fertilizer you need in the aisles of your S Reno Garden Center, online, or on our mobile app. Let's get growing together.