Sawyer County, in Wisconsin, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, cilantro, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Sawyer County lies within the Northwoods (Northern Wisconsin) — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Sawyer County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Sawyer 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 Sawyer County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Sawyer County — the short answer
Sawyer County, Wisconsin: USDA zone 4a, about 142 days between hard freezes, across 805K acres.
- USDA zone
- 4a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 13
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 2
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~142
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 805K 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 Sawyer County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Sawyer County's 142-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Sawyer County
Across a year, Sawyer County accumulates about 1,603 growing degree days above 50°F, about 547 fewer than the middle Wisconsin county — ahead of 4 of Wisconsin’s 72 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 Sawyer County
Across Sawyer County, the ground is predominantly Spodosols, where Magnor, Freeon, and Pence are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally moderately well drained with a silt loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 5.3–5.9, moderately acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group C/D soils.
Soil order
Spodosols
Drainage
Moderately well drained
Prime farmland
19%
Hydric soils
23%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Sawyer County
The USDA soil survey maps 31% of Sawyer County as moderately well drained — but another 62% drains differently: 19% well drained, 17% very poorly drained.
Magnor is the most extensive named soil at 9% of mapped acres, then Freeon (8%) and Pence (7%).
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 Sawyer County
Each reading below is measured for Sawyer 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 Sawyer County are moderately well drained, in hydrologic group C/D — roughly the middle of the drainage range.
This is close to the middle most vegetables prefer: it holds enough water to carry a crop between rains without staying waterlogged. The catch is that a wet spring or a low corner can still tip it soggy.
Plant on the site as-is for most crops, but keep the lowest, slowest-draining beds for moisture-tolerant plantings.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Sawyer County runs about pH 5.3–5.9, 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 23% of Sawyer 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
MeasuredSawyer County runs about 142 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Sawyer County is in
Sawyer County sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Sawyer County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Sawyer County's own USDA zone 4a and its own 142-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 Wisconsin profile.
Is it too late to plant in Sawyer County?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 15; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 13 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 2 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. When the window is tight, the fall moves are quick ones — baby greens, radishes, and garlic set for next season.
Documented around Sawyer County
- monarch butterfly2 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Sawyer County
USGS estimates 15,192 lb of Glyphosate on Sawyer County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (4,183 lb) and Atrazine (4,169 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 Sawyer County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Sawyer County — 448 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 Superfund sites (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 Sawyer 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 Sawyer County
Closest first, across Sawyer County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- STANBERRY TAVERNUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- DS FLAMBEAU FOREST INNUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- Cahill BarUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.2 mi
- TURCOTTE TRUCKINGBrownfields · 3.6 mi
- Big Musky ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- Ojibwa Service IIUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi
- TOWN OF OJIBWAUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- CHIPPEWA PINES RESORTUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- WINCO SERVICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- HERMANS LANDING INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.3 mi
- LAKE CHIPPEWA CAMPGROUNDBrownfields · 5.3 mi
- Blueberry Lake ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.4 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Sawyer 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 Sawyer County.
Total Sites
448
across Sawyer County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Sawyer County
Severity Distribution
across Sawyer County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Sawyer County, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 314 sites across Sawyer County. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Sawyer 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 Sawyer County average
Your land is one point inside Sawyer County
Everything above resolves to Sawyer County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 805K 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 Sawyer County Average
Sawyer County Average
- ●USDA Zones 4a, averaged across Sawyer County
- ●One soil character for all of Sawyer County
- ●Frost dates read at Sawyer County's scale: May 13 to Oct 2
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Sawyer County's 4a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Sawyer County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Sawyer County, Wisconsin — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Sawyer County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Sawyer County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Sawyer County average
How we know this about Sawyer 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 Sawyer County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Sawyer County
When does frost risk typically end in Sawyer County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Sawyer County typically lands around May 13, 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 Jun 3.
How long is the growing season in Sawyer County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Sawyer County sees about 142 frost-free days — roughly May 13 through Oct 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 3 to Sep 18, about 107 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Sawyer County?
The federal record around Sawyer County is a meaningful one — 448 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (314), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.0 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 gardeners stretch the season in Sawyer County?
With about 142 frost-free days between hard freezes, Sawyer County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 170 to 198 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 13 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Sawyer County's scale — its 4a band and its 142-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Sawyer 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 Wisconsin's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Sawyer County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Sawyer County's own scale — its own ~142-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 448 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Sawyer County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Sawyer County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~142-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Sawyer CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 448 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.0 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Sawyer County's boundary and the 804,866 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4a and a ~142-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Sawyer County sitting wholly inside the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Sawyer County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Sawyer County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Wisconsin grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Wisconsin
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Sawyer County — the ~142 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 Sawyer County's 804,866 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 448 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 Sawyer Countyread your own land →