Oregon

Home and garden guidance for Oregon: planting dates for its climate zones, the codes that apply locally, and the rebates residents can actually claim.

Gardening in Oregon

Everything we have worked out for Oregon: 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 Portland, the last spring freeze runs March 6 to March 21 and the first fall freeze runs November 11 to November 27, USDA zones 4a-9b, 2,942 growing degree days in the year.

Garlic does well: 17.4 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.

Elsewhere on the property in Oregon: 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.

When to Cut Spinach in Oregon, and How Long It Really Keeps

A young spinach plant with emerging flower bud grows in a sunny raised garden bed with dark soil.

In western Oregon, spinach gets cut in two windows: spring, from seed sown two to three weeks before the last frost, and late fall, from seed that went…

When to Stop Cutting Asparagus in Oregon, and How to Keep the Spears

Young asparagus spears emerging from garden soil with ladybugs crawling on the stems.

Stop cutting when most of the spears coming up are thinner than a pencil. That is the signal, and it is not a date.

What Eats Asparagus in Oregon, and When

Young asparagus spears pushing through rich dark soil in a wooden raised garden bed on a sunny spring day.

The sources behind this page do not name a single insect or animal that eats asparagus in Oregon, and they give no month for when one would show up.

When to Cut Pumpkins in Oregon, and How Long They Keep

A green squash or pumpkin leaf showing a circular brown lesion with concentric rings, indicating a fungal or bacterial disease on a garden wood surface.

Cut a pumpkin when the rind is hard and fully colored, with a piece of stem still attached, and before the first freeze.

What Eats Pumpkin in Oregon, and When

Two carved Halloween jack-o'-lantern pumpkins displayed on a wooden porch railing with bare autumn trees and brick house in background.

Frost is the one predator that keeps a fixed schedule. In the Portland area, the first 32 F freeze arrives between November 11 and November 27.

When to Plant Grass Seed in Oregon

Weeds sprouting along a concrete edge in a lawn area during warm season.

For most of western Oregon, early fall is the best time to sow grass seed, and the window closes about 45 days before the first fall freeze.

When to Dethatch a Lawn in Oregon

Weeds sprouting along a concrete edge in a lawn area during warm season.

Most Oregon lawns don’t need dethatching. If a spade-cut wedge shows more than 0.75 inch of brown, spongy thatch, the job is worth doing.

When to Aerate a Lawn in Oregon

Weeds sprouting along a concrete edge in a lawn area during warm season.

Aerate a cool-season lawn in fall, while the grass is still growing, and finish ahead of the first freeze.

What Eats Pepper in Oregon, and When

Red chili peppers growing on plants in a sunny agricultural field with arid hills in the background.

In Oregon, the biggest threat to a pepper crop is usually weather, not bugs. At the Portland reference station the thermometer reaches 90 F or higher on…

What Eats Carrot in Oregon, and When

A freshly pulled carrot with green tops lies in dark garden soil next to hand tools and a garden fork.

The direct answer: the verified sourcing behind this page does not carry a named, dated list of insects reported to attack carrot in Oregon plantings.