Last Updated on January 16, 2024

When is fall planting season over?

You’ll find a lot of online nurseries offering fall planting specials this time of year. Just a quick scan of a few of the websites this morning (10/22) and we saw; “The best season to plant is finally here.”  “Fall planting for spring blooms.”  “Shop for fall and save.” “Fall Planting Sale” “Fall is The Best Time to Plant”   5 of the 6 home pages of the online nurseries we looked at were promoting fall planting.

But when is fall planting season over for you? We checked with 3 state agricultural extension offices and the consensus was fall planting is best completed roughly 4 to 6 weeks before your first typical hard freeze.

What is a ‘hard freeze’?  According to the National Weather Service; A hard freeze is when there is at least 4 consecutive hours of air temperatures below 25 degrees. Depending on where you live, that can be anywhere between September 15^th and November 15^th.  Garden.org has an average first frost dates tool. Just enter your zip code for historical average first hard frost.

It’s always kind of hard to predict when the weather has turned cold for good.  Your local 10 day weather forecast should help with where your area is trending. Is it going to be cloudy or sunny?  Wind or calm?  No wind overnight will allow colder air to hang around close to the ground. But a cold wind will sweep away warmer air. Sunny days will help warm up the ground to hold off some colder temperatures.  

Micro climates within the same town can be quite different. When the airport is reaching freezing temperatures, you may not come close if you live in a relatively densely populated neighborhood.

You have a lot of time and money invested in planting your new trees & shrubs.  Mulch heavily (2 to 4 inches) around your new plants.  Worst case scenario, invest in some frost protection plant covers if freezing weather is hitting earlier than expected.