Cowpea curculio in Louisiana: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Cowpea curculio shows up in Louisiana gardens and fields as soon as cowpeas, black-eyed peas, and other southern peas start setting pods, typically from…
Gardening in Louisiana
Everything we have worked out for Louisiana: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in New Orleans, the last spring freeze runs January 18 to February 8 and the first fall freeze runs December 17 to January 8, USDA zones 8a-10a, 7,275 growing degree days in the year.
Heat, not frost, is what shortens the season here: above 86 °F tomato pollen goes sterile, so growers run a spring crop and an autumn one rather than a single long season. Garlic is the awkward one: only 0 weeks below 40 °F, where it needs six to split into cloves. Chill the cloves before planting, or grow a softneck type.
Elsewhere on the property in Louisiana: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Pickleworm in Louisiana: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Pickleworm shows up in Louisiana every year without ever spending a winter here.
Squash vine borer in Louisiana: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Squash vine borer moths start showing up in Louisiana as early as April in the southern part of the state, and thanks to the long growing season, a…
Garden Pests in Louisiana: What Shows Up, When, and How to Stop It
A rundown of the ten pests LSU AgCenter flags for Louisiana gardens, how to identify each one, and which controls actually work.
The Louisiana Lawn Care Calendar, Month by Month
A month-by-month lawn schedule for Louisiana, built around warm-season grasses and the mild, unreliable frost window NOAA measures near New Orleans.
The Best Grass Seed for Louisiana Lawns
Louisiana sits in the warm-season turf zone, so the real grass seed choice is among seven heat-tolerant species, not cool-season types.
Louisiana Lawn Care: What to Plant and When to Feed It
Louisiana’s heat rules out cool-season lawns. This guide names the warm-season grasses that work and the feeding calendar to follow.
Garlic Varieties That Suit Louisiana Winters
Louisiana’s mild winters rarely provide enough cold for hardneck garlic, so most growers choose softneck varieties planted in late fall.
Growing Garlic in Louisiana: Planting Dates, Varieties and Winter Cold
Louisiana rarely gets the sustained cold garlic needs to divide, so growers refrigerate cloves before planting or choose softneck varieties suited to mild winters.
When to Plant Garlic in Louisiana: Counting Back From the First Frost
Louisiana garlic goes in the ground late November to mid December, three to four weeks ahead of NOAA’s December 17 to January 8 frost window near New Orleans.