What’s the Best Way to Plant Your Garden? Direct Sowing vs Transplanting
You’ve been dreaming for years about planting a cut flower garden… and decided THIS IS THE YEAR!
So you head to your nearest garden center, fill your basket with seed packs, then rush home in excitement and eager expectation.
As you begin reading the back of the seed packs, you see all sorts of words like…
“Transplant after last spring frost”
“Direct sow after last spring frost”
…and sometimes “Transplant OR Direct Sow”
Huh?
Don’t worry.
I’ll help you make sense of these words and figure out the best way to plant YOUR garden.
FROST DATES
Many growing locations, like mine in Michigan, USA, can only grow plants part of the year before frost, snow and cold arrive to kill the plants or make them go dormant.
If you live in a climate that receives frost or snow, you need to know your “Frost Dates”. The space on the calendar between these 2 dates is your “frost free growing season”, which means it’s safe to plant during this time. Heavy frost will kill many plants, so I call this a “killing frost”.
You can easily find your “Frost Dates” by searching online. Just enter the name of where you live and the words “frost dates”.
Average Last Spring Frost: Approximate date (2 week swing either in either direction) of when you can expect to get the last “killing frost” of the spring. Remember this date is an '“average”, so it means if you plant your seedlings on your Average Last Spring Frost Date, there is still a 50% chance that you could lose your plants to frost. IT HAPPENS! Ask me how I know ;)
Average First Autumn Frost: Approximate date (2 week swing either in either direction) of when you can expect to get the first “killing frost” of the fall. Again, this is an average, so there is 50% chance it could come sooner (boo!!!) or later (yay!).
Direct Sowing vs. Transplanting
When it comes to planting your cut flower garden, you have 2 options:
1. DIRECT SOWING: This means you directly sowing the seed into your garden. You are…
literally walking out to your garden
plunking the seed in the ground
2. TRANSPLANTING: This means you are…
sowing the seeds into containers indoors (egg cartons, seed trays, yogurt cups, etc)
growing them indoors for a few weeks
gradually acclimating them to outdoor conditions (“hardening off”)
planting them in your garden
As you can see, Direct Sowing is easier, faster and more beginner friendly.
But unfortunately, not all cut flower types perform best when they are Direct Sown.
Which Method Should I Choose?
The answer to this question is determined by YOUR needs and the PLANT’S needs. Here are a few questions to consider:
1. When do you want your flowers to bloom? How long is your growing season?
Most seed packs will tell you approximately how many days it takes for the plant to grow from seed to bloom. I find many cut flowers average 100 days from seed to bloom. People who live in climates with a longer growing season are able to Direct Sow more types of plants, than those of us living in climates with short seasons.
EXAMPLE: If I Direct Sow seeds on May 15 (my Average Last Spring Frost), it means those flowers won’t bloom until late August. That’s a long time to wait!
If I want blooms earlier in the season, I can start them indoors a few weeks earlier then transplant them on May 15 to get blooms in July instead of August.
2. What does the seed pack recommend?
It’s wise to follow the recommendation on the seed pack. Some plants are quite slow growing (like Snapdragons) and must be started indoors weeks or months before being transplanted in order to harvest the blooms in time.
If the seed pack suggests you can try EITHER method, read on!
3. Do you have the time, space and dedication to start seeds indoors?
To learn more about starting seeds, read my blog post “How to Start Seeds”. It does require an investment of time, space and money to start seeds indoors.
WARNING: Once you decide to start seeds indoors, you cannot leave them unattended for more than 24-48 hours. Yup, they are little babies that need constant tending or they will die.
You would not believe the amount of frantic emails I get from people when they realize they are leaving for Spring Break and they don’t know what to do about their seedlings! Yes, you are going to have to hire a “Plant Sitter”. ;)
I hold off on starting seeds as long as possible, because once I start, I can’t go away for the next 6 months (I start seeds from Feb-July) unless I hire someone to take care of my babies.
The Pros and Cons of Direct Sowing vs Transplants
Still not sure which method is best for you? Here are some things to consider to help you decide.
DIRECT SOWING
Pros:
Easy
Inexpensive
Cons:
You’ve got to water the area often to make sure the seeds germinate
Weeds. Can you tell the difference between weeds and the flower you’re trying to grow?
Longer wait for blooms
TRANSPLANTING
Pros:
More predictable results
Earlier blooms
Tangible results - you get to “go plant your garden” and see results at the end of the day
Cons:
Need to be “babied”. Transplants need to be cared for every.single.day.
Transplants need to be “hardened off” before transplanting (acclimate the seedlings to living outdoors by bringing them outside for 1 hour per day, gradually increasing by an hour each day until they are used to being outdoors 24 hours per day). Plants that are not hardened off may experience “transplant shock” and die
Supplies can be costly
Not everyone has good space for growing transplants
Time consuming
List of Plants to Direct Sow vs Plants to Transplant
Here’s a list of SUGGESTIONS for some of the most popular cut flowers. These are not hard and fast rules. Be sure to experiment to find out which method works best for YOUR garden. What works well for one garden might not be the best method for YOURS. I cannot stress this enough!
*Some plants are on both lists. If you have time, space and inclination to start them as transplants, go for it. If you don’t, simply direct sow them instead.
P.S. I almost exclusively Direct Sow all of my Cosmos, Sunflowers and Zinnias. On my farm, these plants perform MUCH BETTER when I Direct Sow them as opposed to Transplanting them. This saves me so much time, space and effort!
Other people have the most success growing these flowers as Transplants, but that has not been the case for my farm.
Again, different methods work best in different situations. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Happy planting!
Transplant
Ageratum
Ammi*
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Delphinium
Foxglove
Yarrow
QUESTIONS?
Questions or comments? Leave them below and I’ll get back to you!
READY FOR MORE?
If you’re serious about growing the garden of your dreams this year, register for my online course, “Backyard Cutting Garden 101”. You’ll find everything you need to plan, grow, harvest and arrange your stunning blooms. I can’t WAIT to help you grow! Click on the button below for all the details.