What are Plant Hardiness Zone Maps?
Apparently, plant zones borders have moving upward over the past few decades
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Plant hardiness zones are categories created by the USDA to help people understand which plants are likely to thrive in certain environments. It's a system calculated from the coldest temperature of the year at each location, averaged over a 30-year period. Hardiness - in this context - refers to the likelihood of a plant dying from the cold.
I'm writing about this because, apparently, plant zones borders have moving upward over the past few decades. The NYTimes has a more comprehensive piece on this than I do, so I would recommend reading their page if you want to get full story; they ask a few growers in the piece how their gardening habits have changed, and it's nice to hear from the practitioners themselves about the problem.
Truthfully, I just wanted to code this phenomenon, mainly because I'm still testing out different forms on content. I wonder...is this a useful map?
As temperatures warm across the US, plant hardiness zones have shifted upwards
Plant Zones, based on the coldest temperature of the year at each location, averaged over a 30-year period ending in the stated year (drag slider)Anyway, there are actionable things to do to combat this, assuming a plant of yours will soon be zoned out from its former habitat:
- Mulch heavily, to protect a plant's roots and crown. A thick layer of mulch can often provide half to a full zone extra of hardiness.
- Plant in a microclimate, or an area of your garden that is different from the surrounding area. Sometimes it's raised soil that allows for better soil. Sometimes it's a particular sunny spot in the garden.
- Go on Google. Frankly I don't garden, and this blog is more so a curation of useful tips. I'm sure the experts out there have documented the process. Apparently this is called 'zone pushing', which is cool terminology.