Get ready for spring gardening in New Jersey

🌷 Now is a great time to plan your spring garden in NJ

🌷 Planting should wait until at least Mother's Day

🌷 Master gardeners offer planning and planting tips

Springtime means gardening time.

But here in New Jersey, it’s not time to plant, folks.

Typically, Mother’s Day is the target date for gardening. That’s usually when the ground temperature is consistently above 60 degrees, even at night, said Ruth Carll, state leader of Consumer Horticulture and the Master Gardeners Program at Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

While it’s not time to plant flowers yet, now is the time to prepare our gardens, she said. That means trimming dead stalks off dead plants from the fall, making sure the gardens are clear of leaf litter, and just neatening.

What’s the biggest garden trend for 2025?

Carll said planting natives is the big trend for this spring and summer. The good news is that native plants are becoming more and more available at local nurseries. People are also understanding more why they are important to our environment.

There is a misconception that gardens will look like a weed field or the woods if people use native plants, but that is not the case, Carll said.

You can have a cottage-style garden with native plants and flowers, if you pick the right ones, she explained.

“So, for example, Black-eyed Susans. Rudbeckia is a plant which is a beautiful long-term bloomer. Pollinators love it. It’s really successful, and it’s a native. Just like milkweeds. There are ground cover milkweeds, tall milkweeds, all kinds. They are perfect garden plants, but they also help our native pollinators because they are familiar with them for food,” Carll said.

Why are native plants important?

The more we take up habitat, the more we lose native plants. When you lose variety, you lose the ones that are disease-resistant, you lose the ones that local animals know and need, and you replace them with plants that might look beautiful for the landscape, but they don’t function the same way in the habitat, Carll explained.

“What we need to do is use the plants that are from here because they are more stable, they thrive better, and they are part of the habitat of New Jersey,” Carll said.

Also, it’s important to follow the concept called “Right Plant, Right Place.” If you put the right plant in where it’s going to be happy, it will thrive whether you’re an expert gardener or not.

“Our place is New Jersey. The right plant for New Jersey is often a New Jersey plant, and that’s why we suggest that people try natives,” Carll said.

What about pollinator-friendly flowers?

Many pollinators will go to a native or a non-native plant. If bees see the color yellow, they are going to flock to yellow flowers.

When planting pollinator-friendly flowers, keep in mind it’s not about the adult pollinator that needs food. Carll said it’s about the larvae of the pollinator, the caterpillars, and the babies that need specific plants.

So, just planting a butterfly bush, for example, which swallowtails love, is not really a good idea because there are no larvae that grow on the bush. So, you’re drawing all these pollinators to your yard, but they have no place to lay their eggs, and it’s not a healthy situation, Carll said.

Plant flowers for larvae. The best flower picks can be found by checking out the Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s fact sheets or calling your county Rutgers Master Gardener helpline.

Carll also said to check out the Native Plant Society of New Jersey to find out which plants are beneficial to which insects and animals in New Jersey.

Soil to Water Ratio

What is frustrating for many gardeners is losing plants and flowers because they either watered too much or too little. So, what is the right soil-to-water ratio when gardening?

Carll said it’s important to get a soil test. If you know what your soil is, you’ll know how to fertilize and water. Soil tests are available at any Rutgers Cooperative Extension for $20. It comes with a great report and a person who will explain the report to you.

“Once you know that, that is the foundation knowledge that you need to be successful,” she said.

Beginner Gardeners

If you’re a novice when it comes to gardening and don’t know what to do, where to begin, what to plant, don’t worry.

Luckily, in New Jersey, there is a master gardener who mans a helpline in almost every county. Give them a call. Carll said, ask them to give you 10 beginner plants to try, and they’ll help you. The Master Gardeners Program also offers classes for beginners, too.

If you’re not a beginner, but still have questions, there’s good news. There are more than 2,200 master gardeners in New Jersey who want to help. So, call your county extension, and get started.

Happy gardening!

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