What Grows in Sea Girt, New Jersey

USDA Zones 7b · 678 acres

Sea Girt, New Jersey, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

On paper, cabbage, prickly pear, california poppy, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Sea Girt, 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 Sea Girt 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 Sea Girt — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Sea Girt — the short answer

Sea Girt, New Jersey: USDA zone 7b, about 245 days between hard freezes, across 678 acres of town.

USDA zone
7b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 23
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 23
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~245
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
678 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

7b7b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7b is Sea Girt's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Sea Girt's 245-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Sea Girt

Each reading below is measured for Sea Girt itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Sea Girt runs about 245 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

Measured

Sea Girt sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b.

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 Sea Girt is in

Sea Girt sits in the Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Sea Girt's own centroid rather than borrowed from Monmouth County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Sea Girt

Every plant below cleared Sea Girt's own zone 7b and its 245-day season. Each card opens that plant's New Jersey profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in New JerseyZones 2–11Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
New Jersey prickly pear guideZones 5–10Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in New JerseyZones 6–10Sea Girt's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: New Jersey growing notesZones 2–11Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Growing fig in New JerseyZones 6–10Sea Girt's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
New Jersey lavender guideZones 5–8Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in New JerseyZones 2–10Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: New Jersey growing notesZones 6–9Sea Girt's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in New JerseySea Girt's 245 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
New Jersey kale guideZones 2–11Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in New JerseyZones 4–9Sea Girt's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: New Jersey growing notesZones 2–11Sea Girt's 245 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in New JerseyZones 5–9Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
New Jersey okra guideZones 2–12Sea Girt's 245 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in New JerseyZones 2–11Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: New Jersey growing notesZones 3–10Sea Girt's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in New JerseyZones 2–11Sea Girt's 245 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
New Jersey apache plume guideZones 5–11Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in New JerseyZones 3–8Sea Girt's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: New Jersey growing notesZones 3–8Sea Girt's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in New JerseySea Girt's 245 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
New Jersey holly guideZones 5–11Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in New JerseyZones 3–9Sea Girt's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: New Jersey growing notesZones 6–8Sea Girt's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in New JerseyZones 4–10Sea Girt's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
New Jersey ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Sea Girt's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in New JerseyZones 2–7Sea Girt's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: New Jersey growing notesZones 5–11Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in New JerseyZones 5–10Sea Girt's 245 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
New Jersey ajuga guideZones 5–11Sea Girt's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Sea Girt?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 23 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

Documented around Sea Girt

Spotted lanternfly documented 3 miles from Sea Girt, first recorded 2020. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Sea Girt

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Sea Girt. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. HYDES GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
  2. GREGS AUTO CAREUnderground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
  3. SEA BIRT TRAINING & LABORATORYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
  4. SEA GIRT NGTCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
  5. 250512-- PW 7Nitrate · 2400 ft
  6. 250371-- Discontinued 4Nitrate · 2400 ft
  7. 250372-- Discontinued 1Nitrate · 2500 ft
  8. SEA GIRT PUBLIC WORKS YARDUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
  9. NJ STATE POLICE - SEA GIRTBrownfields · 2600 ft
  10. SEA GIRT NATIONAL GUARD TRAINING CENTERBrownfields · 2600 ft
  11. SUNOCO 0007-6919Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  12. PARK CLEANERSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Sea Girt'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 Sea Girt.

Total Sites

1,402

within ~10 miles of Sea Girt

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

18 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Sea Girt

High17Moderate401Low984

Highest-Severity Sites

Avon By the Sea Water De
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Belmar Water Dept
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Bog Creek Farm
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Borough of Springlake Heights
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Brielle Water Dept
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Sea Girt, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Sea Girt — PFAS (13 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (923 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.

Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.

Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.

Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Sea Girt

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 Sea Girt average

Your land is one point inside Sea Girt

Everything above resolves to Sea Girt as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 678 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 Sea Girt Average

Sea Girt Average

  • USDA Zones 7b, averaged across Sea Girt
  • One soil character for all of Sea Girt
  • Frost dates read at Sea Girt's scale: Mar 23 to Nov 23

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Sea Girt's 7b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Sea Girt

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Sea Girt, New Jersey — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Sea Girt averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Sea Girt averages 245Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Sea Girt — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Sea Girt average

How we know this about Sea Girt

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 Sea Girt’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 Sea Girt

When does frost risk typically end in Sea Girt?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Sea Girt typically lands around Mar 23, 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 13.

When is the first frost in Sea Girt?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Sea Girt typically arrives around Nov 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 9, so the watching starts about Oct 24 — about 245 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Sea Girt?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Sea Girt sees about 245 frost-free days — roughly Mar 23 through Nov 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 13 to Nov 9, about 210 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Sea Girt?

The federal record around Sea Girt runs heavier than most — 1,402 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (923), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Sea Girt?

From about Oct 24 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 23 (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 23. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Sea Girt's scale — its 7b band and its 245-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Sea Girt'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 Sea Girt’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Sea Girt's own scale — its own ~245-day season between 28°F freezes, the 678 acres it covers and 1,402 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Sea Girt's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Sea Girt's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 23 and Nov 23 and the ~245-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 1,402 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Sea Girt, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Sea Girt's boundary and the 678 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7b and a ~245-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Sea Girt's own centroid, the Atlantic Coastal Pine BarrensUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Sea Girtlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Sea Girt's 678 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Monmouth County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Monmouth 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 Monmouth County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Sea Girt's 678 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Sea Girt you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 678 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Sea Girt-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in New Jersey

Wider growing context

What grows across New Jersey

Sea Girt sits outside our named growing regions, so New Jersey as a whole is its closest context here.