Gough, Georgia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Even in Gough, no two yards are alike.
A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Gough lot. 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 Gough — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Gough — the short answer
Gough, Georgia: USDA zone 8b, about 274 days between hard freezes, across 540 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 28
- Burke County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 29
- Burke County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~274
- Burke County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 540 acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Burke County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Gough's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Gough's 274-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Gough
Each reading below is measured for Gough itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsGough runs about 274 days between hard freezes (read from Burke County, the closest normal to Gough) — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredGough sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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
The kind of country Gough is in
Gough sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Gough's own centroid rather than borrowed from Burke County.
What Grows in Gough
Every plant below cleared Gough's own zone 8b and its 274-day season. Each card opens that plant's Georgia profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Gough?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 31; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 28 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near Gough
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Gough. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BROWNS SERVICE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft
- COUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- 28Y001Nitrate · 3.4 mi
- THERMO KING CORPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.5 mi
- H H BLANCHARD JRUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.6 mi
- SHIVERS FARMUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.8 mi
- 27X002Nitrate · 8.2 mi
- LOUISVILLEPFAS · 8.8 mi
- 27Z001Nitrate · 9.1 mi
- JET FOOD STORES #67Underground Storage Tanks · 9.8 mi
- JACK'S GROCERY #2Underground Storage Tanks · 9.8 mi
- RABUN KUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.8 mi
2 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Gough'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 Gough.
Total Sites
18
within ~10 miles of Gough
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
1 Toxics Release Inventory facility
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Gough
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Gough
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •PFAS do not break down in groundwater. Irrigate from a tested source.
Check your specific parcel in Gough
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 Gough average
Your land is one point inside Gough
Everything above resolves to Gough as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 540 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Burke County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid. 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 town 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 local average.
Your Lot vs the Gough Average
Gough Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Gough
- ●One soil character for all of Gough
- ●Frost dates read at Gough's scale: Feb 28 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Gough's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Gough
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Gough, Georgia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Gough averages can't show:
We read public map data around Gough — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Gough average
How we know this about Gough
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Burke County’s record, because none resolves here; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.
Common questions about Gough
When does frost risk typically end in Gough?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Gough typically lands around Feb 28, 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 Mar 21.
When is the first frost in Gough?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Gough typically arrives around Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 15, so the watching starts about Oct 30 — about 274 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Gough?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Gough sees about 274 frost-free days — roughly Feb 28 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 21 to Nov 15, about 239 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Gough?
The federal record around Gough is light — 18 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (8), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Gough?
From about Oct 30 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 29 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 29. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Gough's scale — its 8b band and its 274-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Gough's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
What this page reads at Gough’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Gough's own scale — the 540 acres it covers and 18 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Gough's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 18 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Gough, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Gough's boundary and the 540 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~274-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Gough's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Gough has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Burke County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Gough's 540 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Burke County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Burke County
- The growing challenges every Georgia grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Georgia
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Burke County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Gough's 540 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Gough you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 540 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Gough-wide figureread your own land →
More in Georgia
Wider growing context
What grows across GeorgiaGough sits outside our named growing regions, so Georgia as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides