When to Plant Ornamental Grasses in Takoma Park, MD

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Takoma Park should be read to figure out when it's possible to plant ornamental grasses.


Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since ornamental grasses are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant ornamental grasses
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant ornamental grasses
Probably not a good time to plant ornamental grasses

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Takoma Park is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In Takoma Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Takoma Park and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Takoma Park you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your ornamental grasses if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Takoma Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Takoma Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Takoma Park.