Is it too early to start planting? Essential gardening tips no matter where you live

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The weather across the U.S. is in turmoil – with warm temperature records expected across central states later this week, followed by a blizzard – but if you are a gardener, you should still be preparing for the spring growing season.

Gardening is a growing trend – no pun intended – across the U.S. with more than 80% of households taking part, according to the National Gardening Association.

Lawn care is the primary gardening activity, but planting of flowers, vegetables and cultivating indoor houseplants, herbs and vegetables such as lettuce – all good spring gardening projects – have gained popularity in recent years.

"Spring is the time when gardeners go get their seeds and start their transplants and prepare their vegetable beds," said Dave Whitinger, executive director at the National Gardening Association.

If you are planning to try your hand to grow vegetables or plant some flowers, it's about time to take action. Established green thumbs also need to prepare for spring, too.

"Right now, depending on where people live, they’re thinking about getting their vegetable gardens ready for planting potatoes, perhaps planting seeds in trays for later transplant, planning their gardening activities for the year, or learning about new garden topics through reading, listening, or webinars," said Cheryl Boyer, a professor and Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources Extension Program Director at Kansas State University.

Here's some tips to get ready for spring.

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Seeds: Grow or plant them this spring

Many of those who garden expect to spend more money this year, according to a survey done by Axiom Marketing, a Minneapolis-based marketing firm that serves the agriculture, horticulture and landscaping industries. Its 2025 Gardening Outlook Study, conducted in November 2024, found that about 40% expected to spend more money gardening and slightly more than that expect to spend more time gardening.

Those are slightly lower percentages in recent years as gardening got a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, Axiom founder and CEO Mike Reiber told Paste BN. "I think it's moderating because of inflationary concerns and concerns about the economy … (and) people are getting back to the life that they had before COVID," he said.

To save money, many gardeners may want to start with seeds to grow plants that they can transplant, rather than buy their plants at a garden center or a major retailer such as Home Depot.

"I’m anticipating a renewed interest in budget gardening and learning how to grow food," said Brooke Edmunds, a community horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. "We did a seed and houseplant swap recently that had 347 people attend Our 'gardening on a budget' classes all have waitlists. Folks are really trying to stretch their dollars."

Flowers and vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce and peppers can be grown from seeds started indoors. Ideally, you'd start six weeks before the expected last frost date for where you live.

There's many variables for starting plants from seed indoors including type of plant, its hardiness, the container to use and planting mix. You can find advice on individual plants – from arugula to zucchini – on the National Gardening Association website's plant database.

If you are truly a first-time gardener, some plants can be grow indoors throughout the season in a container. That may help you avoid the hassle of needing to protect your outdoor plants from squirrels, rabbits and deer.

Many plants grown by seed needed to have been started last month, with transplanting to begin in April – so you may want to set a calendar reminder for next year. But some plants such as lettuce can be directly seeded in your garden as soon as the ground has thawed, according to the NGA site.

Seeds for summer plants such as squash, cucumbers and sunflowers can be planted in the ground in mid-April, the NGA says.

If you are growing some flowers from seed indoors, you can prepare them for transplanting by putting them outside during warmer parts of the day.

Find more local planting advice on the website of your state's extension service, which is usually affiliated with a university – just search online for (your state) extension service). For instance, the West Virginia University Extension has an in-depth section on seed starting. The University of Minnesota Extension has a Lawn and Garden primer, which includes a guide for selecting and caring for trees.

When do you start planting a garden?

You can find when it's time to plant outside by going to The National Gardening Association website and plugging your zip code in.

In the central part of the U.S, the frost-free growing season starts March 27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and April 29 in Omaha, Nebraska, according to the site.

You don't have to wait for frost likelihood to end to start planting some vegetables and other plants. "Spring is the season for starting cool-weather vegetables," such as beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, onions and turnips, said Miri Talabac, a horticulture specialist at the University of Maryland Extension's Home and Garden Information Center.

Also good to plant in early spring are hardy plants, such as perennials – think asters, delphinium and pansies – as well as shrubs, trees and vines, she told Paste BN in an email exchange.

You can plant these "any time the ground is workable (that is, not frozen and not too wet)," Talabac said. "Only frost-sensitive plants like greenhouse-grown herbs and warm-weather annuals (both decorative flowers and vegetables like tomatoes) need to wait until the temperatures (air and soil) are warmer."

Those less hardy plants should go into the ground after the chance of frost has passed. (You can check a plant's tag to see if it's a good fit for the hardiness zone you live in; you can find your zone on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone map.)

Improving your garden

Perhaps you planted some perennials last year and they didn't flourish as you hoped. Now is a good time to consider what to do this season.

"If you can figure out WHY the plant died that can very helpful," Edmunds said. "Was it planted in a location that wasn’t optimum (consider the plants need for sun vs. shade; enough or too much water given, etc.) or did it have an insect or disease issue. It may be a simple problem of right plant, wrong place," she said.

Your extension office can help you – ask to speak with a Master Gardener volunteer, Edmunds said. Want to do your own research? Most extension sites have plant lists – for instance, the Oregon State University Extension has many plant lists for different landscape situations such as low-water use plants.

Need ideas of what to plant? Take a walk and see what is flourishing in neighbors' landscapes or visit public gardens to see what's thriving and "what they look like when they are mature size," Edmunds said. "Once you've done your research then you will have more confidence when you head to the nursery."

Planting tips: Experts share 10 things to do (and avoid) when planting a vegetable garden

Spring cleaning for your garden

If you already have a garden or plot outside where you've grown plants, shrubs and flowers, you can do some cleanup and preparation for their return. But don't overdo it.

"We discourage gardeners from doing too much 'tidying up' in spring, in terms of pruning off old perennial stems and cutting back shrub branches," Talabac said in an email exchange. "This is primarily because various beneficial insects (including some of our native bees) can use those plant parts as winter shelter, and won't be emerging to resume activity until later in the year."

When cutting back dead plant and flower stems, leave 8 inches to 2 feet, depending on the plant. Those stems will be hidden by this year's blooms and remain as a possible home for bees and other helpful insects, which will emerge as temperatures rise. For more information, Talabac suggests the Tufts Pollinator Initiative and the Xerces Society websites.

You don’t need to – nor want to – remove all the leaves on your current flower beds at this point, because it may also be protecting some beneficial insects, as well as serving as natural fertilizer.

When it comes to pruning bushes and trees, it depends on time of year and type of tree. It's best to talk to consult an arborist or an expert at a local garden center. When you mulch around your trees, avoid creating "mulch volcanoes," with a mound of mulch enveloping the trunk. Nothing should cover the trunk base, Talabac said.

Leaf litter and mulch both benefit the roots of plants already in the ground (like perennials) or new flowers and vegetables you are going to plant. Just move the leaves out of the way, as they break down, they help keep the soil healthy, she said.

"Healthy soil life, like plenty of diverse and thriving soil microbes, in turn promotes vigorous, healthy plant growth," Talabac said.

Have specific questions? Again, you can consult your county or state extension service. "Each state’s Extension service will likely have a gardening calendar available on their website for activities people can be thinking about at any given week in the year," Boyer said.

You may want to do a soil test – there are do-it-yourself kits, but ideally you would send samples to a lab (your local extension service may recommend one). Knowing the makeup of your soil helps you figure out what fertilizer or other nutrients to add. And your flower beds likely need a different approach than your vegetables garden, Boyer said.For gardening buffs, there's "lots of soil prep, seed prep, pruning, and tool prep this time of year," she said.

As you get to it, remember to take into account where you live. "Southern states might already be past frost dates and getting busy with all kinds of planting projects," Boyer said. "Northern states are still in the dreaming/catalog-drooling phase of gardening."

(This story was updated with new information.)

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