Oxford County, in Maine, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.
Oxford County lies within the Western Maine Mountains (High Peaks / Rangeley Lakes) — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Oxford County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Oxford County, 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 Oxford County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Oxford County — the short answer
Oxford County, Maine: USDA zone 5a, about 161 days between hard freezes, across 1.3M acres.
- USDA zone
- 5a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 2
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 10
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~161
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 1.3M 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 5a is Oxford County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Oxford County's 161-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Oxford County
Across a year, Oxford County accumulates about 1,528 growing degree days above 50°F, about 230 fewer than the middle Maine county — ahead of 5 of Maine’s 16 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Oxford County
Across Oxford County, the ground is predominantly Spodosols, where Skerry, Hermon, and Monadnock are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a fine sandy loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.3–5.0, very strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group D soils.
Soil order
Spodosols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
2%
Hydric soils
12%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Oxford County
The USDA soil survey maps 33% of Oxford County as well drained — but another 62% drains differently: 25% moderately well drained, 13% somewhat excessively drained.
Skerry is the most extensive named soil at 16% of mapped acres, then Hermon (9%) and Monadnock (9%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Oxford County
Each reading below is measured for Oxford County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Oxford County are well drained, in hydrologic group D — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Oxford County runs about pH 4.3–5.0, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredOxford County runs about 161 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredOxford County sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a.
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 Oxford County is in
Oxford County sits in the Northeastern Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Oxford County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Oxford County's own USDA zone 5a and its own 161-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 Maine profile.
Is it too late to plant in Oxford County?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 4; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 2 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 10 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. As the window narrows, the plantings just get faster — fall brassicas, then greens, then garlic to finish.
Documented around Oxford County
Spotted lanternfly documented 26 miles from Oxford County, first recorded 2022. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle13 documented records
- monarch butterfly20 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Oxford County
USGS estimates 3,312 lb of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s on Oxford County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor-s (3,007 lb) and Glyphosate (2,370 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Oxford County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Oxford County — 703 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 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 Oxford 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 Oxford County
Closest first, across Oxford County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- HANOVER GENERAL STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- Plumbago Mountain Area ProspectMining · 2.9 mi
- OW 1740Nitrate · 3.1 mi
- Dunton Gem MineMining · 3.2 mi
- Scotty MineMining · 3.2 mi
- Dunton MineMining · 3.4 mi
- Broome ProspectMining · 3.4 mi
- Nevel MineMining · 3.4 mi
- Elliot MineMining · 3.5 mi
- Newry MinesMining · 3.5 mi
- MAINE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONBrownfields · 4.0 mi
- MDOT MAINTENANCE FACILITYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Oxford County'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 Oxford County.
Total Sites
703
across Oxford County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Oxford County
Severity Distribution
across Oxford County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Oxford County, Mining runs higher than the national average — 85 sites across Oxford County. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
Check your specific parcel in Oxford County
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 Oxford County average
Your land is one point inside Oxford County
Everything above resolves to Oxford County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 1.3M 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 Oxford County Average
Oxford County Average
- ●USDA Zones 5a, averaged across Oxford County
- ●One soil character for all of Oxford County
- ●Frost dates read at Oxford County's scale: May 2 to Oct 10
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Oxford County's 5a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Oxford County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Oxford County, Maine — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Oxford County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Oxford County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Oxford County average
How we know this about Oxford County
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 Oxford County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Oxford County
When does frost risk typically end in Oxford County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Oxford County typically lands around May 2, 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 May 23.
How long is the growing season in Oxford County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Oxford County sees about 161 frost-free days — roughly May 2 through Oct 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 23 to Sep 26, about 126 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Oxford County?
The federal record around Oxford County is a meaningful one — 703 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (372), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 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 Oxford County's scale — its 5a band and its 161-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Oxford County'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 Maine's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Oxford County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Oxford County's own scale — its own ~161-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 703 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Oxford County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Oxford County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~161-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Oxford CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 703 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Oxford County's boundary and the 1,329,252 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5a and a ~161-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Oxford County sitting wholly inside the Northeastern HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Oxford County for 2 tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Oxford County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Maine grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Maine
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Oxford County — the ~161 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 Oxford County's 1,329,252 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 703 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 Oxford Countyread your own land →