Farmers Branch, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Farmers Branch, 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 Farmers Branch 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 Farmers Branch — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Farmers Branch — the short answer
Farmers Branch, Texas: USDA zone 8b, about 294 days between hard freezes, across 8K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 14
- Dallas County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 5
- Dallas County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~294
- Dallas County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City area
- 8K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Dallas County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Farmers Branch's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Farmers Branch's 294-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Farmers Branch
Each reading below is measured for Farmers Branch itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsFarmers Branch runs about 294 days between hard freezes (read from Dallas County, the closest normal to Farmers Branch) — 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
Winter hardiness
MeasuredFarmers Branch sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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 Farmers Branch is in
Farmers Branch sits in the Texas Blackland Prairies — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Farmers Branch's own centroid rather than borrowed from Dallas County.
What Grows in Farmers Branch
Every plant below cleared Farmers Branch's own zone 8b and its 294-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Farmers Branch?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 17; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near Farmers Branch
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Farmers Branch. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- VALLEY VIEW CAR CARE CENTERUnderground Storage Tanks · 1300 ft
- SHELL OILCO RETAIL FACILITYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1300 ft
- DRY CLEAN CITYBrownfields · 1300 ft
- FIVE STARS CONVENIENCE STORESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- COUNTRY CLUB II DRY CLEANERSBrownfields · 1500 ft
- WAL-MART NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET #5624Brownfields · 1900 ft
- GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBERUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- HENRY S MILLERUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- SUNNYS MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- WHITES 81Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- RAS 6 0558Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- BROOKHAVEN COUNTRY CLUBUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Farmers Branch'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 Farmers Branch.
Total Sites
3,133
within ~10 miles of Farmers Branch
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
19 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Farmers Branch
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Farmers Branch
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Farmers Branch, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Farmers Branch — Toxics Release Inventory (247 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (2,163 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Farmers Branch
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 Farmers Branch average
Your land is one point inside Farmers Branch
Everything above resolves to Farmers Branch as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 8K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Dallas County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’s own centroid. 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 city 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 Farmers Branch Average
Farmers Branch Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Farmers Branch
- ●One soil character for all of Farmers Branch
- ●Frost dates read at Farmers Branch's scale: Feb 14 to Dec 5
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Farmers Branch's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Farmers Branch
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Farmers Branch, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Farmers Branch averages can't show:
We read public map data around Farmers Branch — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Farmers Branch average
How we know this about Farmers Branch
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Dallas County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Farmers Branch
When does frost risk typically end in Farmers Branch?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Farmers Branch typically lands around Feb 14, 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 7.
When is the first frost in Farmers Branch?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Farmers Branch typically arrives around Dec 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 21, so the watching starts about Nov 5 — about 294 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Farmers Branch?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Farmers Branch sees about 294 frost-free days — roughly Feb 14 through Dec 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 7 to Nov 21, about 259 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Farmers Branch?
The federal record around Farmers Branch is a meaningful one — 3,133 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (2,163), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Farmers Branch?
From about Nov 5 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 Dec 5 (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 Dec 5. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Farmers Branch's scale — its 8b band and its 294-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Farmers Branch'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 Farmers Branch’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Farmers Branch's own scale — the 7,604 acres it covers and 3,133 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Farmers Branch's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 3,133 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Farmers Branch, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Farmers Branch's boundary and the 7,604 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~294-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Farmers Branch's own centroid, the Texas Blackland PrairiesUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Farmers Branch has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Dallas County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Farmers Branch's 7,604 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Dallas County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Dallas County
- The growing challenges every Texas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Texas
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Dallas County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Farmers Branch's 7,604 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Farmers Branch you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 7,604 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 Farmers Branch-wide figureread your own land →
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