Gardening in Nevada: What the Season Actually Allows
Nevada’s growing season isn’t one thing. It’s at least three: a low desert that barely freezes, high mountain valleys that freeze hard and often, and a…
Gardening in Nevada
Everything we have worked out for Nevada: 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 Las Vegas, the last spring freeze runs January 7 to February 1 and the first fall freeze runs December 8 to December 23, USDA zones 4a-10a, 6,694 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 does well: 8.7 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Nevada: 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.
Japanese beetle in Nevada: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Nevada’s climate does most of the work here: Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is not established anywhere in the state, and the odds of it becoming a…
Tomato hornworm in Nevada: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Tomato hornworms show up in Nevada gardens from late June through September, with the heaviest activity hitting in July and August once daytime…
Squash bug in Nevada: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Squash bugs show up in Nevada gardens right after the soil warms in spring, typically mid-April in the Las Vegas Valley and closer to late May or June in…
Aphids in Nevada: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Aphids in Nevada follow the water, not the calendar. In Las Vegas and Henderson, they cluster on new growth in March and April, vanish once summer…
Nevada Lawn Care: What to Plant and When to Feed It
Nevada’s warm desert valleys need Bermudagrass or Zoysiagrass, but elevation changes everything: this guide gives the planting window and feeding schedule for your county.
When to Plant Garlic in Nevada: Counting Back From the First Frost
Nevada’s garlic planting window runs mid-November to early December statewide, though elevation and local frost dates shift it earlier in many counties.
Garlic Varieties That Suit Nevada Winters
Nevada’s cold season already meets garlic’s vernalization needs, so the real choices are set-out timing by elevation, planting depth, and disease-free seed stock.
Growing Garlic in Nevada: Planting Dates, Varieties and Winter Cold
Nevada’s winters give garlic plenty of chilling everywhere in the state, but the right planting date and variety depend on your elevation and local frost pattern.
Tomato Planting Dates in Nevada: Counting Back From Your Frost Window
Explains how to calculate a tomato transplant date from your own area’s frost window instead of borrowing a single statewide date.