Putney, Vermont, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Putney, 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 Putney 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 Putney — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Putney — the short answer
Putney, Vermont: USDA zone 5b, about 177 days between hard freezes, across 897 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 5b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 25
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 19
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~177
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 897 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 5b is Putney's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Putney's 177-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Putney
Each reading below is measured for Putney itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredPutney runs about 177 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
MeasuredPutney sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.
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 Putney is in
Putney sits in the Northeastern Coastal Zone — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Putney's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Windham County is mostly Northeastern Highlands. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.
What Grows in Putney
Every plant below cleared Putney's own zone 5b and its 177-day season. Each card opens that plant's Vermont profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Putney?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 28; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 25 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 19 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. The tail of the season still works: sixty-day crops into late summer, quick greens after, garlic last of all.
Documented around Putney
Spotted lanternfly documented 19 miles from Putney, first recorded 2021. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near Putney
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Putney. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Putney Fire DepartmentUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- Bolster's ResidenceUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- NH/VT Veterinary ClinicUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- Rod's MobilUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- former Service Station BuildingUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- Soundview/Putney Paper CoUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- Rolston PropertyUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- PUTNEY FIRE DEPARTMENTBrownfields · 2000 ft
- Mountain Pauls General StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- PUTNEY SUNOCO # 238Brownfields · 2500 ft
- Putney Sunoco #238Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- PUTNEY PAPER COMPANY MILL & LAGOONSBrownfields · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Putney'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 Putney.
Total Sites
347
within ~10 miles of Putney
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Putney
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Putney
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
- •TRI facilities report what they release. Check the wind — downwind beds catch more of it.
Check your specific parcel in Putney
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 Putney average
Your land is one point inside Putney
Everything above resolves to Putney as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 897 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 Putney Average
Putney Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Putney
- ●One soil character for all of Putney
- ●Frost dates read at Putney's scale: Apr 25 to Oct 19
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Putney's 5b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Putney
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Putney, Vermont — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Putney averages can't show:
We read public map data around Putney — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Putney average
How we know this about Putney
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 Putney’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 Putney
When does frost risk typically end in Putney?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Putney typically lands around Apr 25, 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 16.
When is the first frost in Putney?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Putney typically arrives around Oct 19, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 5, so the watching starts about Sep 19 — about 177 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Putney?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Putney sees about 177 frost-free days — roughly Apr 25 through Oct 19, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 16 to Oct 5, about 142 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Putney?
The federal record around Putney is a meaningful one — 347 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (206), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Putney?
From about Sep 19 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 Oct 19 (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 Oct 19. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Putney's scale — its 5b band and its 177-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Putney'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 Putney’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Putney's own scale — its own ~177-day season between 28°F freezes, the 897 acres it covers and 347 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Putney's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Putney's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 25 and Oct 19 and the ~177-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 347 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Putney, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Putney's boundary and the 897 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~177-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Putney sits in the Northeastern Coastal Zone — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Putneylydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Putney's 897 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Windham County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Windham County
- The growing challenges every Vermont grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Vermont
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Windham County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Putney's 897 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Putney you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 897 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Putney-wide figureread your own land →
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