The last frost date is only an average

In about half of years, there's a frost after the average last frost date. Keep row cover handy for a couple of weeks past it.

When: Spring

Your frost dates →

Wait for warm nights, not just the last frost

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and basil stall, and can be hurt, when nights drop below 50°F, even without frost. Hold off planting them until nights stay above 50°F, or cover them on cold nights.

When: Spring · For: Tomato, Cherry tomato, Pepper, Hot pepper, Eggplant, Basil

Use your garden's warm spots

A bed against a south-facing wall can stay several degrees warmer than the open yard, while low spots collect cold air and frost. Plant tender crops early in the warm spots, and save low spots for later.

When: Spring

Cover plants on frosty nights

Throw row cover or an old sheet over tender plants in the evening, all the way to the ground, and take it off in the morning. Plastic touching the leaves doesn't help.

When: Spring, Fall

Your frost dates →

Water before a frost

Moist soil holds more of the day's heat and gives it off overnight. Water in the morning or early afternoon before a frosty night.

When: Spring, Fall

Help plants through a heat wave

Water deeply in the morning, shade tender crops in the afternoon, and hold off on fertilizing and transplanting. Tomatoes often drop their flowers in a heat wave and start setting fruit again when it cools.

When: Growing season

Shade cool-weather crops in summer

Lettuce, spinach, and cilantro bolt (go to seed) in heat. Shade cloth over hoops keeps them growing weeks longer.

When: Growing season · For: Lettuce, Spinach, Cilantro

Plant a fall garden

Kale, spinach, lettuce, carrots, and radishes sown in late summer grow well in cool weather, and many taste sweeter after a light frost.

When: Growing season · For: Kale, Spinach, Lettuce, Carrot, Radish

What you can still plant →

Pick what frost will ruin first

Before a hard freeze, harvest the tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, and basil: frost turns them to mush. Kale, carrots, leeks, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts can stay out, and many taste sweeter after a frost.

When: Fall

Your frost dates →

Tuck strawberries in for winter

After a few hard frosts, once nights reach about 20°F, cover the plants with 3 or 4 inches of loose straw. Pull it back into the paths in spring, when new leaves start to grow.

When: Fall · For: Strawberry (June-bearing), Strawberry (everbearing)

Clean and sharpen tools in the fall

Scrape off the soil, sharpen the edges, and wipe the metal with a little oil. Tools won't rust over winter, and clean pruners don't spread disease.

When: Fall, Winter

Keep a garden journal

Note what you planted and when, what did well, and when the first pests showed up. Next spring you'll have your own dates to go by, instead of guessing.

When: Fall, Winter

Write in your garden journal →

Order seeds early

Popular varieties sell out by spring. Over the winter, sketch next year's garden, check which seeds you already have, and order what's missing.

When: Winter

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