How Will Your Garden Grow? Planting Seeds Verses Planting Seedlings

So you've prepared the soil of your garden for planting. The rake, the hoe, even the trowel and fork are standing at the ready in your gardening tool shed. You even have an idea of what types of plants you want to have in your garden. Now it's time to answer that age old question. Will you start from seeds or seedlings? Each case has its benefits and drawbacks. This paper will describe a few of the pros and cons of each approach so you can better decide what fits both your lifestyle and garden style.

Starting with Seeds: Advantages

Perhaps one of the first advantages when you choose to sow seeds is the variety that you can get. Almost all garden shops or garden clubs have seed catalogs with hundreds, if not thousands of different seed types just waiting for someone to pick them. Another advantage is they are easily transported prior to planting. Seeds offer their own little protective shell casing, and they're often small enough to fit into a smaller pouch or even a pocket while traveling. In addition, many plants, such as tomatoes, corn, even morning glories don't take too kindly to transplantations; they like to stay right where they first sprouted. By using seeds, you can reduce, if not eliminate the shock the plant can undergo through subsequent replanting. Of course, perhaps the biggest advantage to sowing your seeds is it is fun. It's an inexpensive way to get your hands dirty, truly feel the ground and soil between your fingers, and watches something truly grow and change right from the beginning.

Starting with Seeds: Disadvantages

Like anything else in this world, there are of course disadvantages with sowing your first plants from seeds. The first, of course is dealing with birds and other seed predators. Many a garden has been frustrated by these seed hunting warblers. While making it easy for the seed to germinate and push its way up through the loose soil is imperative, it's also important to make sure that the persistent birds can't dig down with their beaks and pull out the seeds before they have had a chance to take root. Another disadvantage can come into play if your garden area is prone to frequent rain. Often, minor, or even major, flooding can easily wash away your seeds before they produce the roots as an anchor to the soil.

Starting with Seedlings: Advantages

Of course, there are other ways of making your garden grow. There are quite a few advantages to starting your outdoor garden using seedlings. One of the most noticeable, of course is the fact that you can actually see the plants and how they are growing from the start. Another is the fact that the seedlings, if they are healthy from the start can provide a great anchor for your soil. And, to top it all off, seedlings are a great way to get your garden off to a faster, more noticeable start and be the envy of all your neighbors.

Starting with Seedlings: Disadvantages

Of course, there are some disadvantages to starting with seedlings in your outdoor garden. The first, as mentioned above, is some plant types simply don't take too kindly to being moved and replanted. Their root system tends not to easily branch out and grow into the new soil. The second disadvantage, of course is one of labor during the planting process. It takes a little more effort to dig down deep and wide enough for a seedling than a seed, especially if the seedling is a larger one like a sapling. A third disadvantage to starting with seedlings is the indoor preparation that a gardener often has to go through prior to going outside. Prior to planting out in the elements, the seedlings have to be prepared and hardened by exposing them every so often to the elements in a protected area, like a screened in porch. During this time of hardening, the plants much be watched carefully to insure that they will not introduce any parasites or diseases into your garden.

These are just a few of the advantages and disadvantages that one can come across whether you decide to plant your garden with seeds or seedlings. It's definitely your choice on which way you would like to go, and hopefully some of these ideas have pointed you in the direction you should go.