Dickinson County, in Michigan, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
Expect cabbage, cranberry, cilantro, and collard greens to be strong candidates here; the deciding factors on any one parcel stay local — soil, sun, and drainage.
Dickinson County lies within the Upper Peninsula — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Dickinson County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Dickinson 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 Dickinson County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Dickinson County — the short answer
Dickinson County, Michigan: USDA zone 4b, about 147 days between hard freezes, across 487K acres.
- USDA zone
- 4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 11
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 5
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~147
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 487K 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 4b is Dickinson County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Dickinson County's 147-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Dickinson County
Across a year, Dickinson County accumulates about 1,608 growing degree days above 50°F, about 492 fewer than the middle Michigan county — ahead of 11 of Michigan’s 83 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 Dickinson County
Across Dickinson County, the ground is predominantly Alfisols, where Emmet, Cathro, and Lupton are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a fine sandy loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 5.8–6.1, moderately acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group A soils.
Soil order
Alfisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
14%
Hydric soils
32%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Dickinson County
The USDA soil survey maps 50% of Dickinson County as well drained — but another 47% drains differently: 26% very poorly drained, 8% excessively drained.
Emmet is the most extensive named soil at 25% of mapped acres, then Cathro (9%) and Lupton (8%).
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 Dickinson County
Each reading below is measured for Dickinson 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 Dickinson County are well drained, in hydrologic group A — 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 Dickinson County runs about pH 5.8–6.1, 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
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 32% of Dickinson County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredDickinson County runs about 147 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Dickinson County is in
Dickinson County sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Dickinson County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Dickinson County's own USDA zone 4b and its own 147-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 Michigan profile.
Is it too late to plant in Dickinson County?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 13; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 11 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even here the calendar’s edges hold value: thirty-day greens late in the window, then garlic and a rested bed for spring.
What gets applied to farmland in Dickinson County
USGS estimates 1,591 lb of Glyphosate on Dickinson County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (1,129 lb) and Metolachlor-s (909 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 Dickinson County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Dickinson County — 374 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 Dickinson 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 Dickinson County
Closest first, across Dickinson County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Blomquist BrosUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi
- Felch FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Nordic Trading PostUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
- Ann A SundstromUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.8 mi
- Nordic GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- 43N 28W 31CCCA 01 DICKINSON CO (GENES POND CPGD)Nitrate · 4.2 mi
- 43N 28W 32ADAB01 DICKINSON CO (FELCH)Nitrate · 5.1 mi
- Alcid MattsonUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.8 mi
- Palluconi General StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.6 mi
- Ralph Microwave SiteUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.6 mi
- The Randville Bar & GrillUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.2 mi
- North Breitung Fire DeptUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.2 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Dickinson 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 Dickinson County.
Total Sites
374
across Dickinson County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
6 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Dickinson County
Severity Distribution
across Dickinson County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Dickinson County, Superfund runs higher than the national average — 6 sites across Dickinson County. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Check your specific parcel in Dickinson 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 Dickinson County average
Your land is one point inside Dickinson County
Everything above resolves to Dickinson County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 487K 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 Dickinson County Average
Dickinson County Average
- ●USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Dickinson County
- ●One soil character for all of Dickinson County
- ●Frost dates read at Dickinson County's scale: May 11 to Oct 5
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Dickinson County's 4b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Dickinson County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Dickinson County, Michigan — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Dickinson County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Dickinson County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Dickinson County average
How we know this about Dickinson 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 Dickinson County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Dickinson County
When does frost risk typically end in Dickinson County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Dickinson County typically lands around May 11, 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 Jun 1.
How long is the growing season in Dickinson County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Dickinson County sees about 147 frost-free days — roughly May 11 through Oct 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 1 to Sep 21, about 112 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Dickinson County?
The federal record around Dickinson County is a meaningful one — 374 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (166), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.6 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 gardeners stretch the season in Dickinson County?
With about 147 frost-free days between hard freezes, Dickinson County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 175 to 203 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 11 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Dickinson County's scale — its 4b band and its 147-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Dickinson 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 Michigan's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Dickinson County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Dickinson County's own scale — its own ~147-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 374 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Dickinson County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Dickinson County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~147-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Dickinson CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 374 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.6 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Dickinson County's boundary and the 487,008 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~147-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Dickinson County sitting wholly inside the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Dickinson County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Michigan grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Michigan
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Dickinson County — the ~147 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 Dickinson County's 487,008 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 374 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 Dickinson Countyread your own land →