Lakes of the North, Michigan, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
Growers here do well with cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Even in Lakes of the North, 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 Lakes of the North 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 Lakes of the North — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Lakes of the North — the short answer
Lakes of the North, Michigan: USDA zone 5a, about 158 days between hard freezes, across 11K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 5a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 9
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 14
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~158
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 11K 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
Zone 5a is Lakes of the North's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Lakes of the North's 158-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Lakes of the North
Each reading below is measured for Lakes of the North itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredLakes of the North runs about 158 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
MeasuredLakes of the North 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 Lakes of the North is in
Lakes of the North sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Lakes of the North's own centroid rather than borrowed from Antrim County.
What Grows in Lakes of the North
Every plant below cleared Lakes of the North's own zone 5a and its 158-day season. Each card opens that plant's Michigan profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Lakes of the North?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 11; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 9 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 14 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
What's on the federal record near Lakes of the North
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Lakes of the North. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Maintenance GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- Northern Bear Country StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.4 mi
- Wilderness ValleyUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- Pigeon Telephone CoUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi
- Station 131 IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi
- 1011 E Fifth AvenueUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi
- Alba EZ MartUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.3 mi
- STIMMER ENTERPRISES INCBrownfields · 5.6 mi
- Camp Flying Eagle, IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.0 mi
- Lil' Country StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.1 mi
- VESCO OIL CORPORATIONBrownfields · 6.3 mi
- Estelle FarmsUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.7 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Lakes of the North'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 Lakes of the North.
Total Sites
92
within ~10 miles of Lakes of the North
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Lakes of the North
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Lakes of the North
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Check your specific parcel in Lakes of the North
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 Lakes of the North average
Your land is one point inside Lakes of the North
Everything above resolves to Lakes of the North as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 11K 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 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 Lakes of the North Average
Lakes of the North Average
- ●USDA Zones 5a, averaged across Lakes of the North
- ●One soil character for all of Lakes of the North
- ●Frost dates read at Lakes of the North's scale: May 9 to Oct 14
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Lakes of the North's 5a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Lakes of the North
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Lakes of the North, Michigan — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Lakes of the North averages can't show:
We read public map data around Lakes of the North — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Lakes of the North average
How we know this about Lakes of the North
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 Lakes of the North’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 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 Lakes of the North
When does frost risk typically end in Lakes of the North?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Lakes of the North typically lands around May 9, 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 30.
When is the first frost in Lakes of the North?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Lakes of the North typically arrives around Oct 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 30, so the watching starts about Sep 14 — about 158 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Lakes of the North?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Lakes of the North sees about 158 frost-free days — roughly May 9 through Oct 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 30 to Sep 30, about 123 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Lakes of the North?
The federal record around Lakes of the North is a meaningful one — 92 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (48), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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 Lakes of the North?
From about Sep 14 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 Oct 14 (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 Oct 14. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Lakes of the North's scale — its 5a band and its 158-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Lakes of the North'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 Lakes of the North’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Lakes of the North's own scale — its own ~158-day season between 28°F freezes, the 10,612 acres it covers and 92 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Lakes of the North's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Lakes of the North's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 9 and Oct 14 and the ~158-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 92 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Lakes of the North, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Lakes of the North's boundary and the 10,612 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5a and a ~158-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Lakes of the North's own centroid, the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Lakes of the North's 10,612 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Antrim County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Antrim County
- The growing challenges every Michigan grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Michigan
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Antrim County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Lakes of the North's 10,612 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Lakes of the North you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 10,612 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 Lakes of the North-wide figureread your own land →
More in Michigan
Wider growing context
What grows across MichiganLakes of the North sits outside our named growing regions, so Michigan as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides