One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant chard is to look at the USDA zone info for Wausau.

Planting Calendar for Chard

Frost tolerance for chard:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Chard do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Wausau 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Wausau. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wausau may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wausau it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chard if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wausau

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Wausau

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