How to Plant a Garden After Starting Seeds Indoors

How to Plant a Garden After Starting Seeds Indoors

You started your seeds and hardened them off, now what?

It’s time to plant them!

Supplies Needed

• Seedlings
• Garden Trowel
• Garden Gloves
• Kneeling Pad
• Garden Soil
• Compost

Step 1 – Prepare the Garden

If you already have a garden that’s ready to go, move on to Step 2.

If you do not have a garden, there are two ways to start a garden.

You can start a new garden this way.

Or you can start a garden the easy way depending on what you are growing.

Since I’ve been gardening my property for well over 20 years, my soil here is really good.

I’ve been amending it with good quality garden soil, compost, leaf mold, and mulch that breaks down.

If you are working with rocky, sandy, or clay soil, you need to spend time preparing your bed with good quality garden soil and other amendments.

Because plant health and success starts with good, healthy soil.

For soil tips, click here.

Step 2 – Site Plants and Dig Hole

Design and site before starting.

I spend a lot of time doing this part because I love to play around with different plant combinations looking at foliage and blooms.

Since seedlings are relatively small, it’s best to use a garden trowel like this one.

If your soil is light and pliable, you may be able to move the soil with your hands and plant.

This is one of the reasons I love to wear garden gloves while I work.

When I am working, I wear garden gloves to keep my hands clean and prevent them from getting blisters if I’m digging a lot.

I also always use a kneeling pad.

Kneeling pads are priceless when doing a lot of plantings because they keep your knees clean and prevent them from getting sore.

Step 3 – Amend the Hole

After digging the hole, amend the bottom of the hole with a mixture of garden soil and compost.

If you’ve already amended your soil when preparing the garden for planting, skip this step.

Step 4 – Gently Remove Seedlings from Cells and Pots

If you started seeds in cell trays or plastic pots, it’s important to gently remove them so you disturb the roots as little as possible.

Sometimes root growth is so strong and healthy, they begin to grow through the bottom of the pot.

Loosen them up and gently squeeze the plant out of the cell or pot.

Sometimes I use a small knife to help lift it out.

This is one of the reasons I love the biodegradable pots.

Because seedlings can be planted directly in the ground without disturbing any roots.

Step 5 – Planting Seedlings

It’s best to plant seedlings on a cloudy day.

And if light rain is predicted, even better.

Luckily in NJ, we get a lot of those in early spring around our last frost date before the weather gets too hot and sunny.

After removing seedlings from their container, gently place them in the ground and backfill the hole.

I like to mound up the soil a little to offer additional support while they get used to their new surroundings.

Water well if rain is not predicted.

My Seed Starting Journey

Have you been following along?

I started over 1000 seeds indoors without a greenhouse.

The journey began several weeks ago and I’ve been sharing the progress along the way.

In case you missed anything or want to learn how to start seeds indoors without a greenhouse:

• Overview of How to Start Seeds Indoors
• Supplies Needed to Start Seeds Indoors
• 7 Simple Tips to Getting Organized Before Starting Seeds Indoors
• Everything You Need to Know About Sowing Seeds Indoors
• 7 Lessons I Learned From Starting Seeds Indoors
• What You Need to Know About Hardening Off Plants
• How to Plant a Garden After Starting Seeds Indoors (you are here)

Pin and Save It For Later

If you like this post, please share and pin it on Pinterest. (If you hover over the image, the Pinterest button will be in the upper left corner.)

I’ve created the below-custom pins for this post.

For more gardening tips, tricks and inspiration, CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to the blog and gain access to information not readily available to the public.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

If you like this post, please follow me @bricksnblooms on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Or join my Facebook Group.