When to Plant Fruit Trees: Dormant Season Dates by City and Zone

Plant dormant bare-root fruit trees in late winter or early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked and before the buds open; where winters are mild, plant them from December through February. Container and balled-and-burlapped trees are more flexible, but cool-season planting beats midsummer for all three. The split is geographic: in 20.6% of lower-48 ZIP codes the normal air temperature never averages below 45°F, so winter is the planting season there, and among the ZIP codes that do reach 45°F in spring the median start date is March 29.

Extension sources agree on the rules and leave you to find your own dates. We set them beside NOAA 1991–2020 normals¹ for 40,557 lower-48 ZIP codes and built spring and fall dates for 29 cities and a table by hardiness zone. Everything uses air temperature as a stand-in for soil temperature, because our NOAA data has no soil readings, and our 45°F spring line is a calibration to two extension calendars, not a published rule.

How the tree is sold sets the planting window

A fruit tree arrives in one of three forms, and each has its own limits. UConn describes bare-root trees as plants sold dormant, not in a pot or balled and burlapped, usually in late winter or early spring, and best planted while still dormant or just before bud break.⁷ Balled-and-burlapped trees are dug and sold with native soil around the root ball and can be extremely heavy, Alabama Extension notes,¹⁵ and container trees come with their roots in potting mix. Table 1 shows the window each form gets in the extension sources we read.

Fall is where the forms part company. Purdue’s fall advice is to select balled-and-burlapped or container-grown plants rather than bare-rooted stock, and to plant bare-root plants only in late winter or early spring while they are still dormant.¹⁰ Texas A&M AgriLife, which prefers bare-root trees, says container trees also work well.⁵

Spring: plant when the soil thaws, before the buds open

The University of Maryland gives the plainest rule:³

The best time to plant is late February through March, before buds open.

Illinois Extension ties it to the ground instead of the calendar, with a different month for each end of the state:⁴

just after the soil thaws and before plant growth starts

Iowa State says bare-root trees and shrubs must be planted in early spring before growth begins,⁸ and Illinois adds that spring planting is preferred in all its areas, with late fall satisfactory only in southern Illinois.⁴ Google’s AI Overview for this query, when we checked on October 22, 2026, sent cold regions to “late March through April” once the ground thaws, and mild ones to fall and winter. Table 2 turns the rule into dates: the first day the normal daily mean air temperature reaches 45°F.

Across the 32,149 ZIP codes that have a 45°F date, the median is March 29 and the middle 80% run from February 20 to April 21. In 44.2% it falls after March 31 and in 17.2% after April 15; in 3.4% it falls before February 1. The date comes before the median last frost in 99.5% of those ZIP codes, a median of 24 days earlier, so unlike a vegetable bed a fruit tree does not wait for the last frost.¹

Where the dormant window closes depends on the tree, not the calendar: UConn and Maryland both say before buds open.^7,3 Our data cannot predict bud break, so we give no end date. Check the buds on the tree in your hand and plant when they are still tight.

How we set the 45°F line

Extension sources describe the start of spring planting by the ground (“soil thaws”), not by a temperature, so we tested four air-temperature lines on the published calendars that name a month. Table 3 shows the result.

The 45°F line lands inside the published window in three of the four places and misses Chicago’s April by a day. The 40°F line fits only Maryland and runs up to 2 weeks early for northern Illinois, and the freezing line runs four to five weeks early. That is a fit to three calendars, so treat the 45°F date as a planning guide, not a measurement. Oklahoma State sets a lower floor for roots:⁹

Roots grow when the soil temperature is above 40 degrees.

The chart shows where each line sits. Soil lags air in spring, so a thermometer in the planting hole settles what a normal cannot.

Fall: warm soil for roots, but not for bare-root in the North

Sources split on fall. Maryland calls mid-September through mid-October the second-best time, except for stone fruits, which it says should only be planted in spring because they need more time to establish.³ UConn plants bare-root stock in late fall after it goes dormant but before the ground freezes,⁷ while Iowa State, Purdue and Oklahoma State send bare-root trees to late winter or early spring.^8,10,9 Oregon State says that if you plant in fall, wait for cool weather (October, for example) and plant dormant trees, and that bare-root fruit trees are hard to find that early because nurseries dig them as late as January.⁶

The soil rules for balled and container trees are more exact. Purdue says soil should be well above 55°F at 6 inches at planting time, a condition that usually lasts until early to late October depending on location,¹⁰ and Missouri says if the soil is consistently 50°F or higher you are good to plant and that the ideal fall window is mid-September to the end of October.¹¹ Oklahoma State’s 40°F root line sets the end of useful root growth. Table 4 counts the days between the two.

Across 37,960 ZIP codes whose air falls below 55°F, the median date is October 16. It has passed by October 1 in 15.2% and by October 15 in 46.9%, while 12.3% stay above 55°F until after November 15; another 6.4% never fall below it. Among the 27,429 ZIP codes that fall below both lines the median gap is 42 days, and no ZIP code has less than 28. Minneapolis has 31 days, Fargo 30 and Richmond 62.

The median first hard freeze is November 4 and the 55°F date comes before it in 98.5% of the 37,067 ZIP codes with both dates, a median of 17 days. Missouri’s rule of thumb is that if the trees in your area still have leaves, you can plant new trees,¹¹ while the Arbor Day Foundation plants bare-root trees in fall only after the leaves have dropped.¹⁷ The warm-soil window for container and balled trees therefore comes first, and the bare-root window, if you use one, comes after it.

Fall planting costs something. Purdue warns that fall-planted stock needs extra attention because plants may not have time to establish a good root system before winter, that cold winter winds and sun pull water from the branches and the roots must replace it, and that cherries and plums are among the plants best saved for spring.¹⁰ Missouri names dry winter soil as one of the main drawbacks and says to water through the winter.¹¹

Mild winters: plant from December through February

Where the ground does not freeze for long, extension says to use the winter. Texas A&M AgriLife says December through February is the best time to plant most fruit trees in Texas, so roots grow during mild winter days and are established before summer heat and drought.⁵ The University of Georgia’s office in Evans County says the best time in southeast Georgia is from late fall to about the middle of February, and that a tree planted in December has more time to establish feeder roots.¹² UF/IFAS, writing about peaches, plums and nectarines for north and central Florida, says container-grown fruit trees may be planted at any time of the year, with December and January the best months.¹³ LSU AgCenter makes the same case for container plants in Louisiana: November is its single best month, because roots keep growing through the winter and the plants get about seven months to settle before the heat.¹⁴

In our data 20.6% of the 40,557 lower-48 ZIP codes (8,355) have a coldest normal daily mean of 45°F or more; 30.0% never average below 40°F and 51.8% never average below freezing. The opposite is also common: 48.2% have a normal daily mean that falls below 32°F, and in 65.4% no winter day (December to February) averages as high as 45°F. College Station, Texas, has a coldest normal daily mean of 51.5°F, Claxton, Georgia, 49.0°F and Sacramento 48.5°F; Atlanta first averages 45°F on January 27. Mild winters bring a different problem, too little cold: UF/IFAS tells north and central Florida gardeners to look for “low chill” cultivars, and Maryland defines the chilling requirement as the cold weather overwintering buds need to develop flowers and fruits properly.^13,3

Planting dates by USDA hardiness zone

A hardiness zone says which fruit trees survive your winter, not when to plant them: the USDA map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.² Oregon State still tells gardeners in the state’s colder regions to pay close attention to the zone when choosing a tree.⁶ The table adds the planting dates our data gives for each zone; look up yours with our planting zone by ZIP code tool and read why zone and frost date are different questions.

In zone 7 the median spring start is March 15 and the air falls below 55°F on October 22. Zone 5 starts a month later, on April 14, and its fall window closes on October 2. In zone 8, only 67.6% of ZIP codes have a 45°F date at all, because the rest never get that cold; zones 9 and 10 are mostly winter-planting country.

Fruit trees that should wait for spring

Two groups do not follow the dormant-season rule. Maryland’s fall window excludes stone fruits (peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries), which it says should only be planted in spring.³ Citrus and other subtropical trees are the opposite case: AgriLife says to wait until the threat of frost has passed before planting subtropical species such as citrus, olives and pineapple guava.⁵ For those, use your median last frost from our frost date lookup and the cover advice in the frost-cover guide, which lists what to protect when a late freeze arrives.

If the tree arrives before the ground is ready

Bare-root nursery stock ships in early spring, often before the soil can be dug. UConn says dormant stock can be kept in the original package in a refrigerator or an unheated garage for no more than two weeks.⁷ Illinois says to open a mail-order package as soon as it arrives and stand the trees in a tub of water for no longer than 2 days; if planting is delayed longer, heel the trees in by laying the roots in a shallow trench in a shaded area, with the trunk at 45 degrees, and covering them with loose soil.⁴ Maryland describes the same heeling-in and says plant roots must be kept moist and free of freezing temperatures at all times.³

Container trees in summer

You can, but heat is the cost. LSU AgCenter agrees that container plants can go in at any time of the year, then names harsh summer heat as a major cause of transplant shock.¹⁴ The University of Georgia says trees can be planted almost any time if you are a persistent waterer, but the best time is typically fall, and in south Georgia spring-planted trees have little time to root before hot, dry weather.¹⁶ Alabama Extension says the dormant season is best because trees then need much less watering, with warmer-season planting possible, especially for container trees.¹⁵ The heat in question is common: the normal July high is 90°F or more in 29.1% of lower-48 ZIP codes and 85°F or more in 60.0%.

How published calendars compare with our dates

Twelve comparisons gave us something to test. Ten agree or land within a day. Maryland’s fall window ends a week before our 55°F date in College Park, and Bend, in central Oregon, is the miss: Oregon State’s February-or-March example ends well before our April 20 date there.

How we calculated these dates

Daily temperatures are NOAA’s monthly normals placed on the 15th of each month and interpolated linearly, for the station nearest each ZIP code.¹ The spring start is the first day the normal daily mean reaches 45°F after the coldest day of the year; the fall lines are the days the normal mean falls below 55°F and 40°F. Frost dates are NOAA’s median 32°F and 28°F dates. Zones are the 2023 USDA map.² Soil lags air, and a single year can run weeks ahead of or behind the normal.

Next steps

Look up your zone with the planting zone tool and your frost dates with the frost date lookup. Our strawberry planting guide covers bare-root strawberries. Once the trees are in, pruning is a separate job; see when to prune roses and when to prune hydrangeas for how we handle timing there. Asparagus crowns are another perennial planted dormant; see when to plant asparagus.