Don't plant that garden too early

AccuWeather's Emmy Victor reports from Chicago on resisting the urge to plant your garden until the soil in your region is ready.

Transcript

00:00 You know, it feels more like summer outside, sometimes a little early in the season.

00:04 It is hard to resist the temptation to plant your garden.

00:08 AccuWeather's Emmy Victor is live to explain why in some cases it is best to wait until

00:13 later in the spring.

00:14 Emmy, it's great to see you.

00:15 So what do you have for us?

00:16 Well, Jeff, great to see you too this morning.

00:18 And I can tell you how happy I am to be wearing short sleeves outside.

00:22 The weather is beautiful in Chicago.

00:23 And if you're one of the millions of people who woke up to warmer than average temperatures,

00:28 you may be very eager to get outside and do some planting.

00:32 However, depending on where you live and what exactly you're planting, you may want to wait

00:37 a little bit longer.

00:38 We spoke with Melinda Myers, a gardening expert, and she says there are many things to keep

00:43 in mind before you start planting, including air and soil temperatures.

00:47 Now soil can take longer to warm up, especially if it hasn't been consistently warm in your

00:52 area.

00:54 Some plants, radishes and peas, can take it cooler in the 40 degrees, but tomatoes and

00:59 peppers like it warm.

01:01 They like that 65 degree soil temperature.

01:03 To figure out your soil's temperature, Myers says you can use a soil thermometer and you

01:08 can also rely on weather data like your area's last frost date to help decide when to get

01:13 started.

01:14 And one more piece of advice she had, she says if the weather does change after you

01:18 plant, it's important to invest in some good row covers that can really help keep your

01:22 plants dry as well as warm in the events the weather does change after you put those seeds