What are hardiness zones? It seems every gardening book and nursery catalog refers to plant hardiness zones, also known as climate zones or growing zones. If you’re new to gardening, you may be wondering what all the fuss is with these zones, and how to find out which zone you are gardening in. Basically, plant hardiness zones are a guide […]

The post Plant Hardiness Zone Map appeared first on Backyard Gardener.

A gardener in Pheonix, Arizona, and a gardener in Bangor, Maine has vastly different gardening quandaries. It should go without saying that a region’s climate has a profound impact on its gardens; the temperature, the humidity, the precipitation, and more affect the region in the short and long term, so gardeners need to fully understand their climate to keep their […]

The post A Guide to America’s Hardiness Zones appeared first on Backyard Gardener.

Australian Hardiness Planting Zones This map is from the Australian Government Bureau or Meteorology. Hardiness zones are a way of classifying areas based on their average minimum winter temperatures. In Australia, there are 10 hardiness zones, ranging from zone 1 (the coldest) to zone 10 (the warmest). These zones are used to help gardeners determine which plants are likely to […]

The post Australian Hardiness Planting Zones appeared first on Backyard Gardener.

Winter Protection for Plants In winter, low temperatures as well as too intense light, lack of water (when the soil is frozen the moisture in it cannot be absorbed by the roots), and wind may cause damage. Some harm is directly due to the effects of below freezing temperatures on the tissues of tender plants; other damage is indirect—for example, […]

The post Winter Protection for Plants appeared first on Backyard Gardener.