What is a Plant Hardiness Zone and how do I find mine?

What is a plant hadiness zone, and how do I find mine_

For any beginner gardener, one of your first steps to planning your garden should be to determine your “Plant Hardiness Zone.”

What is a Plant Hardiness Zone?

Plant Hardiness Zones are numbers from 1 to 10 that are given to particular climate zones. These zones help gardeners and farmers alike better determine what plants will grow best where they live. According to the USDA website, Plant Hardiness Zones are created based on an area’s average annual winter minimum temperature. This number is then divided into 10-degree F zones.

For example, if I want to grow lettuce in my backyard garden, I usually start with some Google research on growing lettuce and try to learn as much as I can before I begin. One website result showed that lettuce generally grows well in zones 4 to 9. Therefore, if I lived in zone 3 or 10, I may want to reconsider growing lettuce in my garden, or look for other ways to successfully aid in its growth in my zone; such as mulching or using a green house.

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Where do I find my zone?

You can find your Plant Hardiness Zone  on the USDA’s website using their zone map. Click here to bring the website up in a separate tab. Then follow these steps to find your zone:

Once you are on the website, you should see a search option to search based on your zip code. Enter your zip code, press “find.”

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The zone result will come up just below where you entered your zip code. In the below image, my zone came up as 10.

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You can also find your zone by viewing your state map. Just to the right of where you entered your zip code, you can choose your state from the drop-down. In my case, I selected southern California. You can view your unique region based by color shown for the zones.

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The Plant Hardiness Zones are not completely accurate since there can be micro-climates within a region, and since zip codes can span across more than one zone, however they still give you a great start. For example, when I previously searched by zip code, my zone came up as 10. However, when I view where I live based on the state map, my zone appears to be closer to 9. Which might be why I can successfully grow lettuce! ;)

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I hope this helped explain what your Plant Hardiness Zone is, why it matters, and how to find it! Now go get planting!


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