Sitka City and Borough, in Alaska, sits in USDA hardiness zones 3a-4b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Sitka City and Borough lies within the Southeast Alaska / Inside Passage Panhandle — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Sitka City and Borough holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Sitka City and Borough, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Sitka City and Borough — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Sitka City and Borough — the short answer
Sitka City and Borough, Alaska: USDA zones 3a-4b, about 240 days between hard freezes, across 1.8M acres.
- USDA zones
- 3a-4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 24
- SITKA AIRPORT station, 20 ft — 16 km away, 30 yr record
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 19
- SITKA AIRPORT station, 20 ft — 16 km away, 30 yr record
- Days between freezes
- ~240
- SITKA AIRPORT station, 20 ft — 16 km away, 30 yr record
- County area
- 1.8M acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 3a-4b is Sitka City and Borough's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Sitka City and Borough's 240-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil in Sitka County
Detailed USDA soil-survey (SSURGO) mapping is limited across Sitka County, so there isn't a reliable county-wide soil summary to show here yet — a gap in the national survey, not in the ground itself.
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Sitka City and Borough
Each reading below is measured for Sitka City and Borough itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredSitka City and Borough runs about 240 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.
There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.
Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredSitka City and Borough sits in USDA hardiness zones 3a-4b.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
What Grows in Sitka City and Borough
We scored all 1,086 plants against Sitka City and Borough's own USDA zone 3a-4b and its own 240-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Alaska profile.
Is it too late to plant in Sitka City and Borough?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 24 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 19 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Sitka County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Sitka County — 179 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 6 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Sitka County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Sitka City and Borough
Closest first, across Sitka County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Siginaka Islands Copper OccurrenceMining · 3.5 mi
- Siginaka IslandMining · 3.5 mi
- AMHS - Sitka Ferry TerminalUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.4 mi
- The Cove Sanitary Sewer LiftUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.3 mi
- McGraw GravelUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.4 mi
- S & S Shop YardUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.4 mi
- Granite Creek General StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.4 mi
- Unnamed Chromite OccurrenceMining · 6.7 mi
- Indian RiverMining · 6.8 mi
- Halibut Point Sanitary Sewer LiftUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.1 mi
- Sandy Beach Sanitary Sewer LiftUnderground Storage Tanks · 8.0 mi
- USDA USFS R10 CASCADE CRK ADMIN SITEBrownfields · 8.2 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Sitka City and Borough's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Sitka City and Borough.
Total Sites
179
across Sitka County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
6 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Sitka County
Severity Distribution
across Sitka County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Sitka City and Borough, two things run higher than the national average across Sitka County — Mining (88 sites) and Superfund (6 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Check your specific parcel in Sitka City and Borough
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Sitka City and Borough average
Your land is one point inside Sitka City and Borough
Everything above resolves to Sitka City and Borough as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 1.8M acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at county scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better county average.
Your Lot vs the Sitka City and Borough Average
Sitka City and Borough Average
- ●USDA Zones 3a-4b, averaged across Sitka City and Borough
- ●One soil character for all of Sitka City and Borough
- ●Frost dates read at Sitka City and Borough's scale: Mar 24 to Nov 19
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Sitka City and Borough's 3a-4b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Sitka City and Borough
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Sitka City and Borough, Alaska — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Sitka City and Borough averages can't show:
We read public map data around Sitka City and Borough — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Sitka City and Borough average
How we know this about Sitka City and Borough
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Sitka City and Borough carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Sitka City and Borough
When does frost risk typically end in Sitka City and Borough?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Sitka City and Borough typically lands around Mar 24, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Apr 14.
How long is the growing season in Sitka City and Borough?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Sitka City and Borough sees about 240 frost-free days — roughly Mar 24 through Nov 19, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 14 to Nov 5, about 205 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Sitka City and Borough?
The federal record around Sitka City and Borough is a meaningful one — 179 documented sites, mostly Mining entries (88), the nearest Mining record about 3.5 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.
Everything above is measured at Sitka City and Borough's scale — its 3a-4b band and its 240-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Sitka City and Borough's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Alaska's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Sitka City and Borough’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Sitka City and Borough's own scale — its own ~240-day span between 28°F freezes and 179 documented sites inside its boundary; 2 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Sitka City and Borough's own USDA hardiness band, zones 3a-4bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Sitka City and Borough's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~240-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 179 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Mining record about 3.5 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Sitka City and Borough's boundary and the 1,836,927 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 3a-4b and a ~240-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
Inherited from a wider read
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Sitka City and Borough — the ~240 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Sitka City and Borough's 1,836,927 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 179 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Sitka City and Boroughread your own land →