William Paterson University of New Jersey, New Jersey, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
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 William Paterson University of New Jersey, 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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William Paterson University of New Jersey — the short answer
William Paterson University of New Jersey, New Jersey: USDA zone 7a, about 214 days between hard freezes, across 152 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 3
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 3
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~214
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 152 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against William Paterson University of New Jersey's 214-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in William Paterson University of New Jersey
Each reading below is measured for William Paterson University of New Jersey itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredWilliam Paterson University of New Jersey runs about 214 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
MeasuredWilliam Paterson University of New Jersey 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey is in
William Paterson University of New Jersey sits in the Northern Piedmont — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at William Paterson University of New Jersey'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 William Paterson University of New Jersey
Every plant below cleared William Paterson University of New Jersey's own zone 7a and its 214-day season. Each card opens that plant's New Jersey profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in William Paterson University of New Jersey?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 6; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 3 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 3 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.
Documented around William Paterson University of New Jersey
Spotted lanternfly documented 4 miles from William Paterson University of New Jersey, first recorded 2020. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near William Paterson University of New Jersey
Closest first, within ~10 miles of William Paterson University of New Jersey. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITYBrownfields · 850 ft
- WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVER OF NJUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
- QUICKCHEK CORP #148Underground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- WAYNE GENERAL HOSPITALUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- CVS PHARMACY #0655Brownfields · 1600 ft
- WAYNE GENERAL HOSPITALBrownfields · 1700 ft
- BOROUGH GARAGE INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
- EXXON R/S 32147Underground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
- CVS PHARMACY #2835Brownfields · 1800 ft
- STONE INDUSTRIES INCORPORATEDUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- IDEAL LABS ILCBrownfields · 0.5 mi
- JANOVSKYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from William Paterson University of New Jersey'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 William Paterson University of New Jersey.
Total Sites
5,324
within ~10 miles of William Paterson University of New Jersey
Risk Level
High
Highest-severity
113 Superfund sites
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of William Paterson University of New Jersey
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of William Paterson University of New Jersey
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around William Paterson University of New Jersey, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of William Paterson University of New Jersey — Superfund (113 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (357 sites). 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.
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 William Paterson University of New Jersey
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 William Paterson University of New Jersey average
Your land is one point inside William Paterson University of New Jersey
Everything above resolves to William Paterson University of New Jersey as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 152 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey Average
William Paterson University of New Jersey Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across William Paterson University of New Jersey
- ●One soil character for all of William Paterson University of New Jersey
- ●Frost dates read at William Paterson University of New Jersey's scale: Apr 3 to Nov 3
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not William Paterson University of New Jersey's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in William Paterson University of New Jersey
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in William Paterson University of New Jersey, New Jersey — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that William Paterson University of New Jersey averages can't show:
We read public map data around William Paterson University of New Jersey — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the William Paterson University of New Jersey average
How we know this about William Paterson University of New Jersey
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 William Paterson University of New Jersey’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 William Paterson University of New Jersey
When does frost risk typically end in William Paterson University of New Jersey?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in William Paterson University of New Jersey typically lands around Apr 3, 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 24.
When is the first frost in William Paterson University of New Jersey?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in William Paterson University of New Jersey typically arrives around Nov 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 20, so the watching starts about Oct 4 — about 214 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in William Paterson University of New Jersey?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, William Paterson University of New Jersey sees about 214 frost-free days — roughly Apr 3 through Nov 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 24 to Oct 20, about 179 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in William Paterson University of New Jersey?
The federal record around William Paterson University of New Jersey runs heavier than most — 5,324 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (3,379), the nearest Brownfields 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey?
From about Oct 4 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 3 (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 3. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at William Paterson University of New Jersey's scale — its 7a band and its 214-day season. Your yard writes its own version of William Paterson University of New Jersey'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 William Paterson University of New Jersey’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at William Paterson University of New Jersey's own scale — its own ~214-day season between 28°F freezes, the 152 acres it covers and 5,324 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- William Paterson University of New Jersey's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- William Paterson University of New Jersey's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 3 and Nov 3 and the ~214-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 5,324 documented contamination sites on the federal record near William Paterson University of New Jersey, the closest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- William Paterson University of New Jersey's boundary and the 152 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~214-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- William Paterson University of New Jersey sits in the Northern Piedmont — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of William Paterson University of New Jerseylydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so William Paterson University of New Jersey's 152 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey's 152 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of William Paterson University of New Jersey you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 152 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields 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 William Paterson University of New Jersey-wide figureread your own land →
More in New Jersey
Wider growing context
What grows across New JerseyWilliam Paterson University of New Jersey sits outside our named growing regions, so New Jersey as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides