When to Stop Cutting Asparagus in Tennessee, and How to Keep the Spears
Stop cutting when most of the spears coming up are thinner than a pencil. That is an object, not a date, and it shuts the season down in any Tennessee bed.
Tennessee
For homeowners and renters in Tennessee: the planting calendar, the maintenance schedule and the local programs worth knowing about.
Gardening in Tennessee
Everything we have worked out for Tennessee: 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 Nashville, the last spring freeze runs March 31 to April 12 and the first fall freeze runs October 28 to November 8, USDA zones 5b-8a, 4,937 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Tennessee: 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.
What Eats Spinach in Tennessee, and When
Heat, long days, warm soil and the first freeze are what eat spinach’s calendar in Tennessee, and they take turns.
What Eats Pumpkin in Tennessee, and When
In Tennessee, the threat you can plan around is not a bug but the calendar. The first fall freeze arrives between October 28 and November 8, and a…
How Late Can You Plant Trees and Shrubs in Fall in Tennessee?
In Tennessee, the safe target for planting trees and shrubs in fall is September 16 to September 27, six weeks before the first fall frost.
What Eats Carrot in Tennessee, and When
This page carries no pest calendar, and saying so up front beats guessing. The verified facts here cover what Tennessee ground does to a carrot and what…
What Eats Onion in Tennessee, and When
Onion thrips are the insect most Tennessee growers end up fighting, and they arrive as the weather turns warm and dry, just when bulbs are swelling.
When to Start Pepper Seed in Tennessee
In Middle Tennessee, sow pepper seed indoors between roughly February 4 and February 18, then move transplants outside after the last frost, once soil…
What Eats Potato in Tennessee, and When
Four entries on the University of Tennessee Extension pest list actually go after potato: Colorado potato beetle, flea beetles and cutworms, aphids, and…
Finishing a Basement in Tennessee: Permits, Ceiling Height, Egress and Waterproofing
What Tennessee’s adopted code actually requires for basement ceiling height, egress windows, permits and moisture control, county by county.
What Eats Parsnip in Tennessee, and When
In Tennessee, parsnip faces three insects documented for the state by University of Tennessee Extension: root maggots, which tunnel into the taproot…