Walsh County, in North Dakota, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
These conditions suit cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Walsh County lies within the Red River Valley — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Walsh County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Walsh 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 Walsh County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Walsh County — the short answer
Walsh County, North Dakota: USDA zone 4a, about 163 days between hard freezes, across 820K acres.
- USDA zone
- 4a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 29
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 9
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~163
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 820K 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 4a is Walsh County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Walsh County's 163-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Walsh County
Across a year, Walsh County accumulates about 1,917 growing degree days above 50°F, about 4 more than the middle North Dakota county — ahead of 27 of North Dakota’s 53 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.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Walsh County
Across Walsh County, the ground is predominantly Mollisols, where Bearden, Glyndon, and Barnes are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally somewhat poorly drained with a loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 7.0–7.9, slightly alkaline. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group C soils.
Soil order
Mollisols
Drainage
Somewhat poorly drained
Prime farmland
62%
Hydric soils
22%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Walsh County
The USDA soil survey maps 29% of Walsh County as somewhat poorly drained — but another 70% drains differently: 28% moderately well drained, 19% well drained.
Bearden is the most extensive named soil at 11% of mapped acres, then Glyndon (10%) and Barnes (10%).
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 Walsh County
Each reading below is measured for Walsh 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 Walsh County are somewhat poorly drained, in hydrologic group C — ground that sheds water slowly.
Beds can stay saturated for days after heavy rain, and the roots of most vegetables, berries, and fruit trees suffocate or rot in soil that never drains.
Raised beds or mounded rows lift roots above the wet zone; choose water-tolerant crops for the lowest spots.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Walsh County runs about pH 7.0–7.9, on the alkaline side.
Many vegetables cope, but acid-lovers like blueberries struggle, and iron and manganese lock up above about pH 7.5 — leaves yellow between the veins even in rich soil.
Elemental sulfur and generous organic matter lower pH slowly for the beds that need it; test first so you add only what the soil actually calls for.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredWalsh County runs about 163 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
MeasuredWalsh County sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a.
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 Walsh County is in
Walsh County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Lake Agassiz Plain (64%) and Northern Glaciated Plains (36%). 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 Walsh County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Walsh County's own USDA zone 4a and its own 163-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 Dakota profile.
Is it too late to plant in Walsh County?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 1; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 29 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 9 — 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 gets applied to farmland in Walsh County
USGS estimates 413,063 lb of Glyphosate on Walsh County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Bentazone (102,320 lb) and Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (85,682 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 Walsh County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Walsh County — 286 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed). 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 Walsh 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 Walsh County
Closest first, across Walsh County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- North Star CoopUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi
- Bobs Body ShopUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi
- Walsh County FairgroundsUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.7 mi
- Park River High SchoolUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.7 mi
- Torgerson Oil Inc.Underground Storage Tanks · 1.7 mi
- 157-055-29ADDNitrate · 1.7 mi
- RAINBOW AUTO BODYBrownfields · 1.8 mi
- Standard Oil StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Owen IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Saint Ansgars Health CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- City of Park RiverUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- 157-055-21DBCNitrate · 2.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Walsh 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 Walsh County.
Total Sites
286
across Walsh County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Walsh County
Severity Distribution
across Walsh County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Walsh County, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 178 sites across Walsh County. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Walsh 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 Walsh County average
Your land is one point inside Walsh County
Everything above resolves to Walsh County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 820K 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 Walsh County Average
Walsh County Average
- ●USDA Zones 4a, averaged across Walsh County
- ●One soil character for all of Walsh County
- ●Frost dates read at Walsh County's scale: Apr 29 to Oct 9
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Walsh County's 4a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Walsh County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Walsh County, North Dakota — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Walsh County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Walsh County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Walsh County average
How we know this about Walsh 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 Walsh County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Walsh County
When does frost risk typically end in Walsh County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Walsh County typically lands around Apr 29, 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 20.
How long is the growing season in Walsh County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Walsh County sees about 163 frost-free days — roughly Apr 29 through Oct 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 20 to Sep 25, about 128 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Walsh County?
The federal record around Walsh County is a meaningful one — 286 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (178), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.6 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 Walsh County's scale — its 4a band and its 163-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Walsh 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 Dakota's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Walsh County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Walsh County's own scale — its own ~163-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 286 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Walsh County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Walsh County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~163-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Walsh CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 286 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.6 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Walsh County's boundary and the 820,228 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4a and a ~163-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Walsh County spans, Lake Agassiz Plain the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Walsh County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every North Dakota grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom North Dakota
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Walsh County — the ~163 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 Walsh County's 820,228 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 286 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 Walsh Countyread your own land →