Understanding Your USDA Hardiness Zone and Why It'll Keep Your Plants Alive This detailed map will help you pick the plants that can thrive in your region and climate.
It has always been my goal to grow citrus trees in my garden. I love the idea of going into my garden and picking fresh oranges or limes straight from the tree. But considering I live in North Carolina — or Zone 7 — that plan will have to wait until I move to Florida.
But what does zone 7 mean?
Zone 7 is the designation the US Department of Agriculture assigned my area based on temperature and weather patterns to determine which plants are growing well. So while citrus isn’t really the best choice for my climate, lavender would thrive.
is difficult and often time consuming, so it’s important to know which plants to avoid before spending time and money on flowers or vegetables that will simply die when winter arrives. This is where the USDA hardiness zone can help. Here’s everything you need to know.
What are hardiness zones?
Hardiness zones are geographic areas divided by climate that can be used to determine where different plants grow best.
The USDA 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map divides the United States and Canada into 13 zones based on average annual minimum winter temperature. Each zone is on average 10 degrees warmer or colder than the neighboring zone during winter, with zone 1 being the coldest and zone 13 being the hottest.
This broadly corresponds to a north-south pattern, but this is not always the case. Things like mountains, lakes, desert topography, and urban heat island effects can result in different zones at the same latitude and within just a few kilometers of each other.
A plant’s hardiness is largely measured by how well it withstands cold winter temperatures, so something that can survive the minimum temperature in zone 5 would find zone 4 too cold.
Many plants, fruits, and vegetables sold at your local nursery or hardware store will have a suggested hardiness zone based on this map on the label. The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the most current version developed by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group. Similar maps are available for Great Britain and Australia.
Why are hardiness zones important?
You can adjust many factors in your garden such as B. Shade, water drainage or soil quality. What you cannot control is the weather. If you want a plant, vegetable or tree to survive and grow year after year, it must be able to tolerate the conditions in your area.
This is where the Plant Hardiness Zone Map comes into play. It helps professionals and home gardeners know which plants have the best chance of succeeding in their climate so they can avoid planting something that would never survive winter or a spring frost.
Look at that:
See the CNET Smart Garden in action
1:40
The map is also a good way to compare your climate to the ideal climate for a specific crop you plan to grow. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t grow this plant in your area. It just means that you should take extra care in addressing his sensitivities. For example, if a vegetable grows better in a warmer climate, you should cover it anytime your area has a frost warning.
inconsistencies and exceptions
The USDA card can be a good guide, but it’s not a set of strict rules that must be followed. The National Gardening Association notes that while the map depicts the climate of the eastern half of North America well, it has some flaws, particularly in the west where the climate is much more varied thanks to mountains and deserts. For example, although Seattle and Tucson are both in temperature zone 8, there is a big difference between Seattle’s wet coastal climate and drier inland Tucson.
Hardiness zones can vary between cities and even within the same city. Denver is in a different zone than the suburban areas that immediately surround it.
If you want to see the zone for your area, you can use the USDA’s interactive map to find the plant hardiness zone at your exact location, down to your zip code. Keep in mind that hardiness zones can vary across the city. A heat island effect in inner cities could justify a warmer zone than a less populated suburban area. Differences in altitude can also affect average temperatures.
While you might not notice huge differences in what plants can survive in two zones that are so similar, it’s still important to know where your garden sits on the map. In my area (7b specifically), vegetables like radishes, lettuce, peas, and onions thrive with proper care.
You should also consider the direction and amount of sunlight your yard receives during the day. Your garden’s exposure to the sun and its shade play a major role in your plants’ life cycle.
Armed with the knowledge of your home’s hardiness zone, you can confidently sow, grow, and harvest the crops best suited to your part of the country this season.
from toplistreviewstips.com https://ift.tt/4sfdoqt
via Toplistreviewstips.com
Nhận xét
Đăng nhận xét