Buckingham County, in Virginia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
The conditions favor cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Buckingham County lies within the Piedmont — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Buckingham County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Buckingham 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 Buckingham County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Buckingham County — the short answer
Buckingham County, Virginia: USDA zone 7a, about 220 days between hard freezes, across 371K acres.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 30
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 5
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~220
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 371K 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 7a is Buckingham County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Buckingham County's 220-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat and winter chill in Buckingham County
Across a year, Buckingham County accumulates about 3,807 growing degree days above 50°F, about 73 more than the middle Virginia county — ahead of 72 of Virginia’s 133 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 2,310 hours below 45°F, 128 fewer than the Virginia middle of 2,438. 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 Buckingham County
Across Buckingham County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Spears mountain, Littlejoe, and Oak Level are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a silt loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 5.0–5.8, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group C soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
26%
Hydric soils
2%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Buckingham County
The USDA soil survey maps 82% of Buckingham County as well drained — but another 17% drains differently: 9% somewhat poorly drained, 7% moderately well drained.
Spears mountain is the most extensive named soil at 28% of mapped acres, then Littlejoe (15%) and Oak Level (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 Buckingham County
Each reading below is measured for Buckingham 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 Buckingham County are well drained, in hydrologic group C — 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 Buckingham County runs about pH 5.0–5.8, 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
Season length
MeasuredBuckingham County runs about 220 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
MeasuredBuckingham County 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 Buckingham County is in
Buckingham County sits in the Piedmont — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Buckingham County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Buckingham County's own USDA zone 7a and its own 220-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 Virginia profile.
Is it too late to plant in Buckingham 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 Mar 2; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 30 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. There is slack in a calendar like this — late plantings, second rounds of favorites, and a fall bench that keeps beds working.
Documented around Buckingham County
Spotted lanternfly documented 16 miles from Buckingham County, first recorded 2022. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle4 documented records
- monarch butterfly6 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Buckingham County
USGS estimates 9,073 lb of Glyphosate on Buckingham County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (3,661 lb) and Metolachlor-s (2,785 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 Buckingham County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Buckingham County — 145 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 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 Buckingham 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 Buckingham County
Closest first, across Buckingham County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Route 20 MarketUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Old Marcuson StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Buckingham Courthouse & Old Service StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.2 mi
- Buckingham County School Bus GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.3 mi
- Shepherd William JUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.4 mi
- Route 60 Convenience MarketUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.4 mi
- ELDER CONSTRUCTION COUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.4 mi
- North River ProspectMining · 2.4 mi
- BUCKINGHAM MIDDLE/DILLWYN ELEMENTARYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.4 mi
- Mary M Patteson Former StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.4 mi
- Buckingham Correctional CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
- DOC - DILLWYN CORRECTIONAL CENTERBrownfields · 3.1 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Buckingham 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 Buckingham County.
Sources Checked
across Buckingham County
Severity Distribution
across Buckingham County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Buckingham County, two things run higher than the national average across Buckingham County — Mining (20 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (101 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Buckingham 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 Buckingham County average
Your land is one point inside Buckingham County
Everything above resolves to Buckingham County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 371K 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 Buckingham County Average
Buckingham County Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Buckingham County
- ●One soil character for all of Buckingham County
- ●Frost dates read at Buckingham County's scale: Mar 30 to Nov 5
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Buckingham County's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Buckingham County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Buckingham County, Virginia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Buckingham County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Buckingham County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Buckingham County average
How we know this about Buckingham 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 Buckingham County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Buckingham County
When does frost risk typically end in Buckingham County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Buckingham County typically lands around Mar 30, 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 20.
How long is the growing season in Buckingham County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Buckingham County sees about 220 frost-free days — roughly Mar 30 through Nov 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 20 to Oct 22, about 185 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Buckingham County?
The federal record around Buckingham County is a meaningful one — 145 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (101), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.8 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 Buckingham County's scale — its 7a band and its 220-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Buckingham 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 Virginia's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Buckingham County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Buckingham County's own scale — its own ~220-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 145 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Buckingham County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Buckingham County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~220-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Buckingham CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 145 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.8 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Buckingham County's boundary and the 370,958 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~220-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Buckingham County sitting wholly inside the PiedmontUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Buckingham County for 2 tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Buckingham County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Virginia grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Virginia
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Buckingham County — the ~220 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 Buckingham County's 370,958 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 145 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 Buckingham Countyread your own land →