One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant strawberries is to examine the USDA zone info for Laurel.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

Frost tolerance for strawberries:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Strawberries do ok in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Laurel 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your strawberries indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Laurel the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Laurel may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Laurel it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your strawberries if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Laurel

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