One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge you should be able to figure out 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 the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since pampas grass require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in Oak Ridge 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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. Starting your pampas grass indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Oak Ridge. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Ridge it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your pampas grass if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Ridge

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Oak Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Ridge.