Garden
Look up your USDA planting zone and frost dates by ZIP code, plan when to plant vegetables, and figure out how much soil your raised beds need.
- Planting Zone Your USDA hardiness zone and half zone by ZIP code, with the winter low behind it and the change since 2012.
- Frost Dates Last spring and first fall frost for your ZIP code from NOAA station records, at three risk levels and three temperatures.
- Planting Calendar When to start seeds, plant out, and sow fall crops for 30 vegetables, counted from your ZIP code frost dates.
- Raised Bed Soil Calculator Soil for one or more raised beds, as bags of each ingredient in a compost and topsoil mix, with filler and settling.
Start with your zone and frost dates
Two numbers shape a vegetable garden. Your USDA hardiness zone tells you how cold winter gets, which matters most for perennials, shrubs, and trees. Your average last spring frost and first fall frost set the season for annual vegetables. Seed packets usually say something like “sow outdoors 2 weeks after the last frost,” so that date is the one to find first.
Both come from long-term weather records, so treat them as averages, not promises. A frost date at 50% probability means frost still hits after that date in about half of all years. If you’re setting out tender plants like tomatoes or peppers, waiting a week or two past the average is the safer bet, and watching the 10-day forecast helps more than any table.
Then plan the beds
Raised beds warm up earlier in spring and drain better than garden soil, which helps in cold or clay-heavy areas. Fill them with a mix of topsoil and compost rather than bagged garden soil alone, and expect the mix to settle an inch or two in the first season.
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