Is it too early ?

[Elasticatedwaist]

Gardening newbie here. Is it too cold / early to plant any new plants outside ? I don’t have a greenhouse ( yet). I would like some more roses , lavender , geraniums and some evergreen shrubs.

Wait until the risk of frost has passed, different for everywhere but Google your area and it should estimate when. I usually wait until the grass has started to grow, we regularly get snow at the end of feb/early March though.

Ok Thankyou. I’m getting a bit impatient I think !

now Is an ideal time to plant out bare root roses, which are cheaper than potted roses and in my experience adapt better. The others I would wait until more solidly in spring.

Hardy plants, shrubs, perennials and roses can all be planted out now unless the ground is actually frozen. They are all living outside in pots in the garden centre anyway, and anything that comes bare-root like some roses and hedging needs to go in the ground asap.

For anything more tender then wait a few weeks.

Following

I’m impatient too, but if there’s a hard frost in March newly planted plants could die. Or mulch with 6 inches around the roots. Waiting till the grass starts to grow is a good idea.

The longer you can make yourself wait before tidying the garden / disturbing things, the better for the environment. Insects and other organisms are overwintering and need temps reliably above 12 degrees (day and night) before they are disturbed.

I know it's difficult to restrain but you really must.

In the meantime start some seeds in flats or something. Visit garden centers or watch GW.