Wake the garden · build the season
Spring Planting Guide
Turn warming soil and lengthening days into a practical planting plan for your USDA zone.
Planting finder for Zones 1A–13B
What can I plant this spring?
Select your USDA zone to see broad seasonal windows for starting indoors, direct sowing, and transplanting or planting.
Your spring planting overview
Zone 6B Spring Planting Guide
Spring moves from frost-tolerant roots and greens toward warm-season crops as frost risk passes and soil warms.
Go beyond the zone
Open your state vegetable planting calendar
State calendars account for regional frost patterns, elevation, heat, and local growing seasons that the USDA hardiness zone alone cannot describe.
Use the results well
Four checks before seed meets soil
Average dates are guides. Watch the forecast and protect tender crops from late or early freezes.
Warm-season seeds such as beans, cucumbers, and melons can rot or stall in cold, wet soil.
For late planting, count backward from frost and add time for slower growth under shortening days.
Use cold-tolerant, fast varieties in shoulder seasons and heat-tolerant choices for summer successions.
Modeled near 2½ inches deep
Check your current soil temperature
Enter a U.S. ZIP code for a current modeled reading, then confirm the seedbed itself with a garden soil thermometer.
Prepare for the season
Spring garden preparation
Use this checklist to prepare soil, fertility, water, mulch, pest management, and season protection before the work becomes urgent.
Test before feeding
Run a soil test before adding lime or fertilizer. Correct pH and nutrients from results rather than habit.
Prepare workable soil
Wait until wet soil crumbles instead of smearing. Loosen compacted beds without pulverizing their structure.
Feed the crop plan
Apply compost and fertilizer according to test results and crop needs; avoid excess nitrogen around root crops.
Start weed control early
Remove winter annuals before they set seed, then use stale seedbeds or shallow cultivation before planting.
Scout emerging pests
Check seedlings for cutworms, flea beetles, slugs, and early aphids. Use row cover before pests arrive when appropriate.
Stage mulch later
Let cold soil warm first, then mulch after crops establish to conserve moisture and suppress summer weeds.
Important timing note
A zone is not a planting date
The USDA map is based on average annual extreme minimum winter temperature and is primarily a perennial-hardiness tool. Two gardens in the same zone can have different frost dates, rainfall, soil temperature, elevation, and summer heat. Use the zone finder for orientation, then refine the plan with your state calendar and current conditions.
Planning approach informed by the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, University of Maryland Extension vegetable timing guidance, and University of Minnesota Extension crop-planning guidance.