When to Plant Snap beans in Gardner, MA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Gardner should be reviewed to figure out when to plant snap beans.


Planting Calendar for Snap beans

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

Snap beans require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant snap beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant snap beans
Probably not a good time to plant snap beans

The earliest that you can plant snap beans in Gardner is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant snap beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your snap beans may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your snap beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Gardner. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gardner may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gardner you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your snap beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gardner

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gardner

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gardner.