Knowing Your Hardiness Zone: Garden Planting Zones / Frost Zones & Dates

One of the essential first steps in planting a successful garden is to know your area’s hardiness zone, also sometimes called a garden planting zone or frost zone. A hardiness zone gives key information about the lowest temperatures plants in your area will need to withstand. You will need to match this hardiness zone number with plant varieties to find out when to plant in the spring. This will also help you determine how long the growing season is in your area to determine which plants will grow most successfully.

Just type in your zip code to find your hardiness zone number and then match it against the map. Is your area centered on the zone or is your garden on a border of the zones? It’s important to interpret the information for best results. A hardiness zone indicator is an approximation. Yearly weather patterns may vary, but as a general guide it can be very helpful.

Average Minimum Winter Temperature of USA

Once you have your hardiness zone number, you can also look at these estimates of last expected frost dates. Of course, since it is only an estimate you should also consider recent temperature trends and weather forecasts.

Last Expected Spring Frost Dates by Zone • Zone 1: June1 – June 30
• Zone 2: May 1 – May 31
• Zone 3: May 1 – May31
• Zone 4: May 1 – May31
• Zone 5: March 30 – April30
• Zone 6: March 30 – April30
• Zone 7: March 30 – April30
• Zone 8: February 28 – March 30
• Zone 9: January 30 – February 28
• Zone 10: January 1 – January 31
• Zone 11 Frost Free Year Round

After your seedlings are planted, you need to watch the weather. If there is a frost warning in your area, you need to cover each of your seedlings with a 2 liter plastic bottle with the bottom cut out.

This beginning stage of planting takes some work, but when you are enjoy fresh-from-the-garden vegetables and flowers later in the year, it will be well with the initial effort in educating yourself about your hardiness zone so you can properly care for your seedlings.

New York Plantings Garden Design - Ideas for Rooftop Gardens

Rooftop Garden – a rooftop garden is any type of garden created on top of a building. As expected with any open space there are many varieties of rooftop gardens and motivations for installing them.

Rooftop gardens can be beautiful, relaxing sanctuaries with pergolas/gazebos, arbors, leisure areas with outdoor furniture and garden lighting and can be designed with custom planters, decks and patios.




In addition verticalgardens, green walls, landscapes lighting or an Asian garden design can add a unique and personalized look to your rooftop garden. Rooftop gardens are one of the most flexible ways to add living space in the city. Here are a few inspirations of the types of rooftop retreats that New York Plantings Garden Design can build for you:

Container gardens, where garden plants are grown in pots and planters, are also a popular rooftop addition.

Another type of rooftop garden often called a green roof or living roof, can partially or completely cover a rooftop with plants with appropriate layering of a waterproof lining an irrigation system and drainage.

Green roofs are built with environmental benefits in mind including absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating habitats for wildlife and to help lower urban air temperatures, lessening the heat island effect (when an urban area is significantly warmer than nearby rural areas due to materials that retain heat and “waste heat” generated by energy consumption).

A great resource for both residential and commercial buildings, New York Plantings Garden Design is ready to discuss the benefits of your rooftop “Going Green.” Additionally, green roofs can be helpful in managing energy costs, helping to control building temperatures and they can also be designed to serve as a source of home grown foods.

New York Plantings Garden Design has recently finished a beautiful rooftop garden complete with custom built planters, blue stone pavers, hardwood patio, and grassy area with sprinklers and drainage.

You can learn more about this recent project, the materials used, and our process by visiting here, and here. And soon to be a finished project blog about the completion of the rooftop oasis. As well as visit our blog frequently to learn more about our projects and all about the gardening and landscaping world.

New York Plantings Garden Design is a full-service landscaping, garden design and building firm. From Asian inspired gardens, to professional tree installation, elegant terrace gardens and expert landscape maintenance, New York Plantings can make your landscaping dreams a reality. And we now offer complete irrigation and lighting service from Manhattan to Montauk and beyond through New York Plantings Irrigation and Lighting. If you want the best in irrigation and lighting design from an experienced and dedicated team call us today at (646) 434-8049 or visit our website.



*Click on images for source

Vertical Gardens Provide Beauty and Function

Vertical Garden –  a vertical garden, known also as a green façade, a green wall, a living wall or a bio wall is one way to maximize the use of garden space while adding beauty to any wall structure. When planted on the side of a house, they are not only beautiful to the eye but also serve to bring down energy costs due to the insulating properties of having a garden covering an outside wall of the home. 

Image Courtesy of Inspiration Notebook

Vertical Gardens are great for urban environments too! Where areas for planting gardens are harder to come by as well as being wonderful for the environment and helping to improve air quality. When planted on dividing walls between houses it also helps to absorb noise making for a quieter community. Since this is such a great all purpose garden idea, New York Plantings has provided a “How to” video on installing lattice for growing wall ivy:

Especially in the New York area serviced by New YorkPlantings Garden Design, vertical gardens are an often requested addition to both new garden and landscaping designs as well as renovations where a new look with functional features like noise reduction, covering of older structures or increased cooling is paramount. Planting a “green wall” is an easy, inexpensive addition to any garden project.

Image Courtesy of Fun Design Ideas

Learn more about incorporating a vertical garden into your next landscape design by calling New York Plantings Garden Design at 347 558-7051. We provide for all your garden and landscape needs and now offer a second division that includes professional irrigation and lighting to keep your arbor, terrace, container garden, Asian garden, deck, pool, pergola, rooftop retreat, patio or backyard oasis and all your plants healthy and looking beautiful, both day and night!

New York Plantings Garden Design is Growing with a New Division Providing Quality Irrigation and Lighting Services - Press Release

Image Courtesy of Ehow.com

In these difficult economic times one business reality holds true, the certainty that if you provide an essential service, work hard and treat your customers well your business will thrive. Todd Nappi owner of New York Plantings lives by this philosophy and so it is no wonder his business is “blooming.” It is, therefore, appropriate that Todd has chosen spring, the time of growth, to announce the expansion of his company to include New York Plantings Irrigation and Lighting, which is devoted to irrigation and lighting design and installation.

Lawn Sprinklers Maintain a Healthy Lawn

“We build irrigation and lighting into all of our garden design plans and installations, so it was a natural progression to create a new division of New York Plantings dedicated to irrigation and lighting so we can offer those services to customers who need support for their existing landscaping,” offers Todd Nappi. “Of course we all know how important irrigation is to maintain the health and vitality of our plants, but what many people don’t know is that the science of irrigation has made vast improvements in the past few years. Automatic sprinkler systems are not the only option and, although we install, service and maintain sprinkler systems, we also offer drip irrigation that provides directed water that is great for the plants, the environment and your wallet too.

Lighting Provides Ambiance to Outdoor Settings

It used to be that garden lighting was a luxury, but as people in the city are looking for more space and creating living areas outside, lighting has become a necessity in areas such as rooftop retreats, terrace gardens, around pergolas, pools and decks. Lighting is a great way to add beauty and drama to your property, improve safety and extend the use of your outdoor areas. Using energy saving light bulbs helps us in our effort to “Go Green,” as we keep environmental factors in mind when we design, install and maintain our customers’ landscaping.


New York Plantings Garden Design is a full-service landscaping, garden design and building firm. From Asian inspired gardens, to professional tree installation, elegant terrace gardens and expert landscape maintenance, New York Plantings can make your landscaping dreams a reality. And we now offer complete irrigation and lighting service from Manhattan to Montauk and beyond through New York Plantings Irrigation and Lighting. If you want the best in irrigation and lighting design from an experienced and dedicated team call us today at (646) 434-8049 or visit our website.