Genesee County, in Michigan, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, hazelnut, lavender, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Genesee County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Genesee 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 Genesee County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Genesee County — the short answer
Genesee County, Michigan: USDA zone 6a, about 188 days between hard freezes, across 408K acres.
- USDA zone
- 6a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 18
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 23
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~188
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 408K 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 6a is Genesee County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Genesee County's 188-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Genesee County
Across a year, Genesee County accumulates about 2,390 growing degree days above 50°F, about 290 more than the middle Michigan county — ahead of 59 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 Genesee County
Across Genesee County, the ground is predominantly Alfisols, where Conover, Brookston, and Del Rey are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally somewhat poorly drained with a loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 6.3–6.8, slightly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group C/D soils.
Soil order
Alfisols
Drainage
Somewhat poorly drained
Prime farmland
16%
Hydric soils
21%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Genesee County
The USDA soil survey maps 42% of Genesee County as somewhat poorly drained — but another 51% drains differently: 20% well drained, 15% poorly drained.
Conover is the most extensive named soil at 28% of mapped acres, then Brookston (7%) and Del Rey (6%).
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 Genesee County
Each reading below is measured for Genesee 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 Genesee County are somewhat poorly drained, in hydrologic group C/D — ground that sheds water slowly.
Beds can stay saturated for days after heavy rain, and the roots of most vegetables, berries, and fruit trees suffocate or rot in soil that never drains.
Raised beds or mounded rows lift roots above the wet zone; choose water-tolerant crops for the lowest spots.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Genesee County runs about pH 6.3–6.8, close to neutral.
This is the range most vegetables prefer — one correction you probably do not have to make, which is genuinely good news for a new bed.
Keep it there with compost rather than lime or sulfur, and only amend if your own soil test says otherwise.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredGenesee County runs about 188 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
MeasuredGenesee County sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a.
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 Genesee County is in
Genesee County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains (84%) and Huron/Erie Lake Plains (16%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.
What Grows in Genesee County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Genesee County's own USDA zone 6a and its own 188-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 Genesee 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 Mar 21; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 18 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 23 — 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 Genesee County
Survey cells within 31 miles of Genesee County checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 35 miles off. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle1 documented records
- monarch butterfly63 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Genesee County
USGS estimates 80,512 lb of Glyphosate on Genesee County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Atrazine (15,930 lb) and Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (13,495 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 Genesee County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Genesee County — 2,057 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 29 Superfund sites. 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 Genesee 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 Genesee County
Closest first, across Genesee County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Hurley Medical CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 350 ft
- Mott Childrens Health CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 350 ft
- HURLEY MEDICAL CENTERBrownfields · 400 ft
- HURLEY MEDICAL CENTER (D3598)Brownfields · 550 ft
- FLINT DIALYSIS CENTERBrownfields · 700 ft
- REVITALIZING AUTO COMMUNITIES ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE TRUSTBrownfields · 950 ft
- Shelton ShellUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- GENOA HEALTHCARE LLCBrownfields · 1700 ft
- GREATER FLINT MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES INCBrownfields · 1700 ft
- 1031gkUnderground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
- Dave JohnsonUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- A and N Gas (Lessee)Underground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Genesee 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 Genesee County.
Sources Checked
across Genesee County
Severity Distribution
across Genesee County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Genesee County, Superfund runs higher than the national average — 29 sites across Genesee County. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
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 Genesee 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 Genesee County average
Your land is one point inside Genesee County
Everything above resolves to Genesee County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 408K 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 Genesee County Average
Genesee County Average
- ●USDA Zones 6a, averaged across Genesee County
- ●One soil character for all of Genesee County
- ●Frost dates read at Genesee County's scale: Apr 18 to Oct 23
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Genesee County's 6a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Genesee County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Genesee County, Michigan — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Genesee County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Genesee County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Genesee County average
How we know this about Genesee 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 Genesee County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Genesee County
When does frost risk typically end in Genesee County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Genesee County typically lands around Apr 18, 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 9.
How long is the growing season in Genesee County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Genesee County sees about 188 frost-free days — roughly Apr 18 through Oct 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 9 to Oct 9, about 153 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Genesee County?
The federal record around Genesee County is a meaningful one — 2,057 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (977), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Genesee County's scale — its 6a band and its 188-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Genesee 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 Genesee County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Genesee County's own scale — its own ~188-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 2,057 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Genesee County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Genesee County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~188-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Genesee CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 2,057 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile outFederal environmental registers
- Genesee County's boundary and the 407,645 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6a and a ~188-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Genesee County spans, Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Genesee County for 2 tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Genesee 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 Genesee County — the ~188 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 Genesee County's 407,645 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 2,057 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 Genesee Countyread your own land →