The Best Apple Varieties for North Dakota
North Dakota’s severe winter cold, not flavor or size, decides which apple varieties survive, and NDSU Extension can confirm a cultivar’s rating for your county.
Gardening in North Dakota
Everything we have worked out for North Dakota: 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 Fargo, the last spring freeze runs May 4 to May 15 and the first fall freeze runs September 25 to October 5, USDA zones 3a-4b, 2,673 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 30.4 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in North Dakota: 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.
Canning at Altitude in North Dakota: What Your Elevation Changes
North Dakota’s elevation changes what your canner needs to do, but only if you actually live at a meaningful height above sea level.
When to Plant Onions in North Dakota
North Dakota gardeners plant onions in late winter to early spring, starting seed indoors as early as January and moving transplants or sets into the…
The Best Onion Varieties for North Dakota
North Dakota sits at roughly 46.93 degrees north, and on the longest day of the year that latitude delivers 15 hours and 41 minutes of daylight.
The North Dakota Lawn Care Calendar, Month by Month
A month-by-month guide to feeding, mowing, aerating, and overseeding a cool-season North Dakota lawn, timed to Fargo’s average fall frost window.
The North Dakota Apple Calendar, Stage by Stage
North Dakota’s apple stages run off Fargo’s frost dates from NOAA, not the calendar month, so this guide breaks bloom, fruit set and harvest timing down by stage.
Firewood in North Dakota: Which Woods Your Winter Actually Needs
Winter in North Dakota isn’t a matter of ambiance. When the average daily low in the coldest month sits at 0.2°F, as it does in Fargo, firewood becomes a…
North Dakota Soil: What You Are Digging Into, and How to Improve It
Dig a shovel into most North Dakota ground and you’re standing in the Williams series, a Mollisol, the dark, deep prairie soil that helped build the Corn…
North Dakota Planting Calendar: When to Sow and Plant, Frost Dates Included
North Dakota’s frost dates, cool- and warm-season sowing windows, and fall planting timing, based on NOAA’s Fargo climate normals and NDSU Extension guidance.
Flowers That Actually Thrive in North Dakota, and the Ones That Struggle
A look at which flowers survive North Dakota’s harsh winters and short summers, and which ones need to be treated as annuals instead.