The zones around here
On the 2023 USDA map, our service area runs from 6b to 7b. 6b covers Minden, Genoa, Johnson Lane, Gardnerville Ranchos, Incline Village, Zephyr Cove and ZIP 89511 (Galena and Mt Rose), and Smith Valley. 7a covers Carson City (89701), Sparks, Dayton, Fernley, Fallon and Virginia City. 7b covers central Reno, West Carson (89703), Sun Valley, Spanish Springs and the North Valleys. Zone 6b means an average coldest night of -5 to 0 degrees F, 7a means 0 to 5, and 7b means 5 to 10.
The sources are on elevation and hardiness zones across the service area.
What the map misses
The map is about cold, not about everything a tree has to survive. Summer heat, a few inches of rain, wind, and a late frost after buds open all matter, and a zone number says nothing about them. Elevation changes quickly here: the service area runs from about 3,965 feet at Fallon to over 7,000 feet at Kingsbury, so a tree on a ridge can face a harder year than the zone suggests.
A zone number is also an average. A cold night can go below the zone range, so a single freeze is not evidence the map is wrong.
How arborists use it
A tree's zone range is a first check on whether a species suits a place, and arborists weigh it with exposure, irrigation and soil. Battle Born does not plant trees, so we use the zone mostly to read what is already in the ground: why an apple tree on a cold lot lost its blossoms, why a species struggles at Tahoe elevation, or what to expect from a spruce in a hot Reno yard. See Colorado blue spruce.
Sources
- USDA Agricultural Research Service: Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) (read October 17, 2026)
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, station data (retrieved October 1, 2026)