Cumberland County, in North Carolina, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
These conditions suit cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Cumberland County lies within the Carolina Sandhills — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Cumberland County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Cumberland 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 Cumberland County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Cumberland County — the short answer
Cumberland County, North Carolina: USDA zone 8a, about 261 days between hard freezes, across 418K acres.
- USDA zone
- 8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 10
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 26
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~261
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 418K 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 8a is Cumberland County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Cumberland County's 261-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat and winter chill in Cumberland County
Across a year, Cumberland County accumulates about 4,931 growing degree days above 50°F, about 541 more than the middle North Carolina county — ahead of 85 of North Carolina’s 100 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.
Winter banks about 1,509 hours below 45°F, 254 fewer than the North Carolina middle of 1,763. Chill is what tells a fruit tree its dormancy is over, and it is set by climate rather than by anything you can build.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Cumberland County
Across Cumberland County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Wagram, Johnston, and Candor are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a loamy sand surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.8–5.5, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group A soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
18%
Hydric soils
32%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Cumberland County
The USDA soil survey maps 37% of Cumberland County as well drained — but another 61% drains differently: 18% very poorly drained, 12% poorly drained.
Wagram is the most extensive named soil at 8% of mapped acres, then Johnston (8%) and Candor (8%).
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 Cumberland County
Each reading below is measured for Cumberland 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 Cumberland County are well drained, in hydrologic group A — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Cumberland County runs about pH 4.8–5.5, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 32% of Cumberland County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredCumberland County runs about 261 days between hard freezes — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Cumberland County is in
Cumberland County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Southeastern Plains (88%) and Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain (12%). 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 Cumberland County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Cumberland County's own USDA zone 8a and its own 261-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 North Carolina profile.
Is it too late to plant in Cumberland County?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 10; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 10 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 26 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
Documented around Cumberland County
Survey cells within 31 miles of Cumberland County checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 57 miles off. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle4 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Cumberland County
USGS estimates 42,362 lb of Glyphosate on Cumberland County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Atrazine (16,324 lb) and Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (16,060 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 Cumberland County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Cumberland County — 944 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 14 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 Cumberland 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 Cumberland County
Closest first, across Cumberland County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- COBB PAVING, INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC - WNC6Brownfields · 0.9 mi
- STRICKLAND'SUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- M J SOFFE COBrownfields · 1.0 mi
- M.J. SOFFE CO.Underground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- CLINTON ROAD LIBERTYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- EDMAC TRUCKING & SERVICE IN.Underground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- EDMAC TRUCK SALES & SERVICE, INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- ESTES EXPRESS LINESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- ROADWAY EXPRESS, INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- EXPRESS MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- KELLYS CLEANERS INCORPORATEDBrownfields · 1.3 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Cumberland 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 Cumberland County.
Sources Checked
across Cumberland County
Severity Distribution
across Cumberland County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Cumberland County, two things run higher than the national average across Cumberland County — Superfund (14 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (650 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.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Cumberland 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 Cumberland County average
Your land is one point inside Cumberland County
Everything above resolves to Cumberland County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 418K 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 Cumberland County Average
Cumberland County Average
- ●USDA Zones 8a, averaged across Cumberland County
- ●One soil character for all of Cumberland County
- ●Frost dates read at Cumberland County's scale: Mar 10 to Nov 26
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Cumberland County's 8a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Cumberland County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Cumberland County, North Carolina — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Cumberland County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Cumberland County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Cumberland County average
How we know this about Cumberland 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 Cumberland County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Cumberland County
When does frost risk typically end in Cumberland County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Cumberland County typically lands around Mar 10, 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 Mar 31.
How long is the growing season in Cumberland County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Cumberland County sees about 261 frost-free days — roughly Mar 10 through Nov 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 31 to Nov 12, about 226 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Cumberland County?
The federal record around Cumberland County is a meaningful one — 944 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (650), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 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.
Everything above is measured at Cumberland County's scale — its 8a band and its 261-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Cumberland 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 North Carolina's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Cumberland County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Cumberland County's own scale — its own ~261-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 944 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Cumberland County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Cumberland County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~261-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Cumberland CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 944 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Cumberland County's boundary and the 417,642 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8a and a ~261-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Cumberland County spans, Southeastern Plains the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Cumberland County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Cumberland County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every North Carolina grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom North Carolina
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Cumberland County — the ~261 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 Cumberland County's 417,642 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 944 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 Cumberland Countyread your own land →