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When to Plant Pampas Grass in Lake Forest, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Lake Forest you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant pampas grass.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Pampas Grass require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pampas grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pampas grass
Probably not a good time to plant pampas grass

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in Lake Forest is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pampas grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pampas grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Lake Forest. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Forest may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Forest there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pampas grass if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Forest.