Montclair State University, New Jersey, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Montclair State University, 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 Montclair State University 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 Montclair State University — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Montclair State University — the short answer
Montclair State University, New Jersey: USDA zone 7a, about 224 days between hard freezes, across 228 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 31
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 10
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~224
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 228 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 7a is Montclair State University's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Montclair State University's 224-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Montclair State University
Each reading below is measured for Montclair State University itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredMontclair State University runs about 224 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
MeasuredMontclair State University sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.
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 Montclair State University is in
Montclair State University sits in the Northern Piedmont — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Montclair State University's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Passaic County is mostly Northeastern Highlands. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.
What Grows in Montclair State University
Every plant below cleared Montclair State University's own zone 7a and its 224-day season. Each card opens that plant's New Jersey profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Montclair State University?
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 3; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 31 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 10 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the season winds down slowly: late sowings, a real autumn harvest, and garlic in the ground before the first hard freeze.
Documented around Montclair State University
Spotted lanternfly documented 3 miles from Montclair State University, first recorded 2020. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near Montclair State University
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Montclair State University. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- MONTCLAIR STATE DISTRICT ENERGY CENTERUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
- NJ TRANSIT PARKING LOT 28 AT MSUUnderground Storage Tanks · 700 ft
- WARD TRUCKING CORPBrownfields · 900 ft
- SIGLER EXCAVATING COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- OVERLOOK CORPORATE CENTERUnderground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
- DELTAUnderground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
- WARD TRUCKING CORPUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- NJDOT RTE 46 - 3 VALLEY RDBrownfields · 0.5 mi
- TABIBIAN CORPUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- LITTLE FALLS CORPUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- AYVAZIAN COPORATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- DAIBES SVC STATION LITTLE FALLSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Montclair State University'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 Montclair State University.
Total Sites
7,094
within ~10 miles of Montclair State University
Risk Level
High
Highest-severity
176 Superfund sites
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Montclair State University
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Montclair State University
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Montclair State University, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Montclair State University — Superfund (176 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (498 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Montclair State University
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 Montclair State University average
Your land is one point inside Montclair State University
Everything above resolves to Montclair State University as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 228 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 Montclair State University Average
Montclair State University Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Montclair State University
- ●One soil character for all of Montclair State University
- ●Frost dates read at Montclair State University's scale: Mar 31 to Nov 10
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Montclair State University's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Montclair State University
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Montclair State University, New Jersey — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Montclair State University averages can't show:
We read public map data around Montclair State University — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Montclair State University average
How we know this about Montclair State University
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 Montclair State University’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 Montclair State University
When does frost risk typically end in Montclair State University?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Montclair State University typically lands around Mar 31, 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 21.
When is the first frost in Montclair State University?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Montclair State University typically arrives around Nov 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 27, so the watching starts about Oct 11 — about 224 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Montclair State University?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Montclair State University sees about 224 frost-free days — roughly Mar 31 through Nov 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 21 to Oct 27, about 189 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Montclair State University?
The federal record around Montclair State University runs heavier than most — 7,094 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (4,553), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Montclair State University?
From about Oct 11 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 10 (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 10. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Montclair State University's scale — its 7a band and its 224-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Montclair State University'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 Montclair State University’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Montclair State University's own scale — its own ~224-day season between 28°F freezes, the 228 acres it covers and 7,094 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Montclair State University's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Montclair State University's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 31 and Nov 10 and the ~224-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 7,094 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Montclair State University, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Montclair State University's boundary and the 228 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~224-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Montclair State University sits in the Northern Piedmont — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Montclair State Universitylydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Montclair State University's 228 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Passaic County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Passaic County
- The growing challenges every New Jersey grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom New Jersey
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Passaic County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Montclair State University's 228 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Montclair State University you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 228 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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 Montclair State University-wide figureread your own land →
More in New Jersey
Wider growing context
What grows across New JerseyMontclair State University sits outside our named growing regions, so New Jersey as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides