What Grows in Pineville, Kentucky

USDA Zones 7b · 2K acres

Pineville, Kentucky, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, prickly pear, california poppy, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Pineville, 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 Pineville 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 Pineville — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Pineville — the short answer

Pineville, Kentucky: USDA zone 7b, about 220 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of city.

USDA zone
7b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 1
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 7
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~220
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
2K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 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

7b7b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7b is Pineville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Pineville's 220-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Pineville

Each reading below is measured for Pineville itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Pineville runs about 220 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

Measured

Pineville sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b.

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 Pineville is in

Pineville sits in the Central Appalachians — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Pineville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Bell County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Pineville

Every plant below cleared Pineville's own zone 7b and its 220-day season. Each card opens that plant's Kentucky profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in KentuckyZones 2–11Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Kentucky prickly pear guideZones 5–10Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in KentuckyZones 6–10Pineville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Kentucky growing notesZones 2–11Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Growing fig in KentuckyZones 6–10Pineville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Kentucky lavender guideZones 5–8Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in KentuckyZones 2–10Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: Kentucky growing notesZones 6–9Pineville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in KentuckyPineville's 220 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Kentucky kale guideZones 2–11Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in KentuckyZones 4–9Pineville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Kentucky growing notesZones 2–11Pineville's 220 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in KentuckyZones 5–9Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Kentucky okra guideZones 2–12Pineville's 220 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in KentuckyZones 2–11Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Kentucky growing notesZones 3–10Pineville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in KentuckyZones 2–11Pineville's 220 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Kentucky apache plume guideZones 5–11Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in KentuckyZones 3–8Pineville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Kentucky growing notesZones 3–8Pineville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in KentuckyPineville's 220 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Kentucky holly guideZones 5–11Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in KentuckyZones 3–9Pineville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Kentucky growing notesZones 6–8Pineville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in KentuckyZones 4–10Pineville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Kentucky ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Pineville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in KentuckyZones 2–7Pineville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
western red cedar, photograph
Western red cedar: Kentucky growing notesZones 4–10Pineville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in KentuckyZones 5–10Pineville's 220 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Kentucky ajuga guideZones 5–11Pineville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Pineville?

Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 4; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 1 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 7 — 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.

Documented around Pineville

Survey cells within 31 miles of Pineville checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 82 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Pineville

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Pineville. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. Brooks Tire Service IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
  2. Pine Mountain State Resort ParkUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
  3. KY Division of ForestryUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  4. Lees Food Mart 11Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  5. J25C0018Nitrate · 1.0 mi
  6. Bell Co Ems HqUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  7. Parcel 135 (Lt Sta 1394)Underground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  8. Rowland ChevroletUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  9. Majik Mkt 085 15Underground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  10. Pineville ShellUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  11. Peer Station No 4Underground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
  12. J25C0012Nitrate · 1.1 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Pineville'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 Pineville.

Total Sites

244

within ~10 miles of Pineville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Pineville

High0Moderate124Low120

Highest-Severity Sites

Brooks Tire Service INC
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Chenoa Country Store
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
City Bp
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Coca Cola Bottling Spring Water
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Dairy Mart #3200
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Pineville, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 96 sites within ~10 miles of Pineville. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Pineville

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 Pineville average

Your land is one point inside Pineville

Everything above resolves to Pineville as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 2K 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 city 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 Pineville Average

Pineville Average

  • USDA Zones 7b, averaged across Pineville
  • One soil character for all of Pineville
  • Frost dates read at Pineville's scale: Apr 1 to Nov 7

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Pineville's 7b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Pineville

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Pineville, Kentucky — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Pineville averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Pineville averages 220Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Pineville — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Pineville average

How we know this about Pineville

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Pineville’s own record; 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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Pineville

When does frost risk typically end in Pineville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Pineville typically lands around Apr 1, 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 22.

When is the first frost in Pineville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Pineville typically arrives around Nov 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 24, so the watching starts about Oct 8 — about 220 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Pineville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Pineville sees about 220 frost-free days — roughly Apr 1 through Nov 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 22 to Oct 24, about 185 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Pineville?

The federal record around Pineville is a meaningful one — 244 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (131), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Pineville?

From about Oct 8 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 7 (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 7. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Pineville's scale — its 7b band and its 220-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Pineville'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 Pineville’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Pineville's own scale — its own ~220-day season between 28°F freezes, the 2,159 acres it covers and 244 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Pineville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Pineville's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 1 and Nov 7 and the ~220-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 244 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Pineville, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Pineville's boundary and the 2,159 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7b and a ~220-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Pineville's own centroid, the Central AppalachiansUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Pineville checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Pineville's 2,159 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Bell County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Bell County
  • The growing challenges every Kentucky grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Kentucky
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Bell County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Pineville's 2,159 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Pineville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,159 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Pineville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address