The Awesome Planting Guide For Your Plants – Knowing When

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• The Awesome Planting Guide For Your Plants -
  Knowing When

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• Weve got the research and experience to give
  you this awesome planting guide to know when to
  plant for people living in Mississauga.
• Read on to find out how you can get the best
  and (probably) the most productive garden on your
  block!

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• Timelines for gardening three seasons dates
  and deadlines for Mississauga zone.
• January is the time of year for planning
  resolutions, good will, ideas and preparations
  for the year ahead. There is no more obvious
  place to lay the groundwork for the year than in
  your garden.

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• Do You Know Your Zone?
• Before you can start planning your planning,
  you have to know your hardiness zone. This was
  originally an American system to categorize
  plants, shrubs and trees by temperature zone.
  Basically, the lower the number, the colder the
  weather in the zone. Picking plants that are
  meant for an 8 zone, when you live in a 6, will
  likely leave you with a dead plant.

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• For Mississauga, we are currently a 6a (there
  is also a 6b, in case you were wondering). 6a is
  a little colder than 6b but when you are picking
  most plants, you will simply pick by hardiness
  zone 6. You can choose from among hardier plants
  (5,4,3) as well.

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• We say currently because global warming is
  having an effect on the hardiness zones. There
  are sources that say that Mississauga is now a 6b
  but for the gardener planning their next years
  garden, the number you need to remember is 6.

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• Know Your Frost Free Date
• This is an ever changing target but in the
  GTA, you can reliably look to around Mothers
  Dayin the area of May 9th for the frost free
  date. This means that it is unlikely that we will
  experience severe frost after that date, making
  it relatively safe to start your planting.

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• That said, its still best to leave less hardy
  plants and flowerstomato plants, for example
  for another month, if you can. Check your day and
  night forecasts from Environment Canada before
  you plant and remember that planting works best
  when the soil has had a chance to warm and dry up
  a little from the winter run off.

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• Highway 401 is a good demarcation point to use
  when considering your frost free dates. Above the
  401? Wait an extra week or two after Mothers
  Day. Proximity to the lake and to the general
  heat created in an urban setting like downtown
  Toronto affects the likelihood of late frost
  occurring.

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• January / February Planning
• If youre going to make changes to your garden
  this season, now is the time to plan them. Are
  you planning to add a water feature? You should
  get in touch with your local hardscaper to be
  sure that your plans are accurate, or to book
  them in for the Spring. Or maybe youre going for
  a few more modest changes just a couple of
  raised beds of perennials, perhaps?

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• Are you planning a vegetable garden? Do your
  research now on plants and vegetables that are
  adaptable to your zone and check the dates for
  sowing / planting to get optimal return for the
  season, so youre not scrambling later. Also,
  start checking out the seed catalogues and get
  your orders in, if you enjoy growing your garden
  plants from seeds.

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• March Planning And Action
• By the middle of March, you should be starting
  to sow seeds indoors, if you really want to get a
  jump start on the season. Annuals like impatiens
  or vegetables such as peppers can be started
  indoors. Later in March, you can start sowing
  things like parsley, petunias and other more
  delicate florals.

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• April Planning And Action
• If youre into sowing seeds to prepare for
  Spring planting, this is the month when you
  really need to get it in gear!
• Early to mid-April tomatoes, onion, lettuce
  all should be sowed now.
• Mid to end of April cucumbers, herbs,
  cabbage and annuals such as morning glories and
  marigolds.

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• Once the daytime temperature is consistently
  above freezing, you can start preparing your
  beds
• Rake off winter debris of old leaves and clear
  twigs, branches or other materials.
• Add compost and manure.

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• If you havent started already, now is a good
  time to start composting. Youll have a good base
  with the old leaves you raked off.
• Rake your lawn to get up the old, dead grass.

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• Late in the month of April and IF there has
  been no further frost, you CAN start to plant
  hardier items like peas, turnips, onions,
  radishes, and pansies. Just remember that a late,
  hard frost is always possible, right into the
  middle of May.

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• May Planning And Action
• Once the threat of frost is well and truly
  over, you can start planting out some of the
  plants you were sowing indoors. If you prefer not
  to grow from seeds, you can start visiting your
  local garden centre and picking out the
  plantsannual and perennialthat you had planned
  for your beds.

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• You may still want to have covers handy (old
  bed sheets or row covers) in case of a sudden
  frost, just pop them over your new transplants to
  keep the frost at bay.

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• June / July / August
• Enjoy your garden! Summer is fleeting so spend
  time in your garden and if you want to do any
  autumn planting, check out our previous post on
  the subject! It will help you to plan what will
  work and what wont, as well as give you a list
  of things you can do to start preparing your
  garden for winter.

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• Lawn care at this point is a lot about
  maintenance but you can also start planning for
  the winter by doing some overseeding / sodding
  where its needed.

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• September / October Planning and Action
• Now is the time to start getting your lawn and
  garden ready for winter and the first frost,
  which can be as early as the first days in
  October.

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• You dont want to be caught short and have all
  that hard work go to waste! Also, there is a lot
  you can do to prepare your lawn and garden for
  next years planting, to ensure that you get a
  maximum return on your green thumb efforts!

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• Its a great time of year to check in with
  your local landscaper / hardscaper to make sure
  that your projects are ready to start work when
  the ground thaws or give us a call for some
  friendly landscaping advice.
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