OOPS! It looks like the page you were searching for isn’t here. To help you find it type it in the search bar below or check out the categories to see if it changed. Thanks for Visiting Growing The Home Garden!
Maybe One of These Articles from Growing the Home Garden would Interest You?
-
Preparing for a Freeze or Frost
Middle Tennessee and much of the south is expected to receive a freeze tonight. We all know how damaging a freeze could be and we have no to look no further back than 2007 to see the results. That year many gardeners lost trees like Japanese maples and crape myrtles due to the flow of sap in the trunks freezing…
Sounds of the Cicadas
In case you happen to not be in cicada territory and don’t have the joy of listening to their “soothing music” here’s a video of our backyard with our local cicadas from brood 2011 blaring in the background. The sound in the trees is deafening and after 45 minutes of being outside your head begins to throb. Turn up your…
3 More Things About Raised Beds
In my last post I mentioned 11 Things to Think About When Designing Your Raised Bed Vegetable Garden. Here are a few more ideas suggested by commenters! Think about a fence (From Tina). Whether for aesthetics or for function fences are good for the garden. Different fences can solve different issues. A simple wire fence may keep out the smaller…
A Few February Photos
The garden is coming alive now that February is in full swing. The extra warm winter is supposed to become much more normal over the next week but that won’t stop our spring growth. Yesterday I saw the ‘Okame’ cherries beginning to bloom. Unfortunately I don’t have any here in our garden to show you but it won’t be long…
Self Sowing Coleus in the Garden
I love surprises in the garden. Plants that pop up where you least expect them – unfortunately those are usually called “WEEDS.” Sometimes though we find plants of value that pop up. Here are a few pictures of some self-sown coleus plants that came up in my front garden this year. I grow coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) every year but have started…
Birds of Prey
Wild animals have always fascinated me and I think there are not many that have the beauty and majestic nature of the birds of prey. While we were at the Bloom ‘N Garden Expo on Saturday there was a table set up from a wildlife rescue group. I wish I remembered the name of the group so I could give…
Henbit is Here!
Coming soon to a lawn or garden near you … Henbit (Lamium amplexicauli)! The cover-all-lawns-with-purple-spring-color ground cover. If you’re tired of the green look – consider purple. It’s easy care with absolutely no maintenance and pollinator friendly! You don’t even have to plant it as henbit will find its own way to your lawn. It’s a weed but sure is…
Starting Lettuce from Seed in the Vegetable Garden
It’s that time of the year here in Tennessee where if you haven’t already done so you might want to think about planting lettuce in your vegetable garden. Lettuce likes the cool air of early spring to start growing. I planted three types of lettuce last week in our raised beds – all of which are heirlooms. How I Plant…
Starting The Fall Garden From Seed
It’s time to start thinking fall garden if you haven’t already! It may seem too hot, too dry or too much like August where you are but over the next few weeks we need to get our seeds started and growing. When to Start Seeds for a Fall Vegetable Garden? The tricky thinking about starting a vegetable garden in the…
Vegetable Gardening Info, Tips, and Design Ideas, Insects, and More
Here is a collection of vegetable gardening posts that I’ve written over the last few years. Some are gardening designs and others are more general but in either case hopefully they will be of some use to you! Garden Layouts and Designs The garden layouts and designs section contains a group of posts about designing a raised bed vegetable garden. …
Compost Bins from Pallets
Compost bins are essential in the garden. They take the waste materials from the yard, garden, kitchen, or farm and turn it into usable soil. Good compost is worth its weight in gold to gardeners which is exactly why it is nicknamed “gardener’s gold.” One of the easiest ways to make a lot of compost is to set up a…
How to Propagate Variegated Hydrangea from Cuttings
While we were out of town this past weekend we visited one of my wife’s aunts. She has a custom built log cabin in the woods surrounded by her garden. Since her property is very shady one of the most prominent plants in her garden is her hydrangeas. She has several kinds of hydrangeas that I’ll show you in a…
Blank Slate
It will be fun to think of what next year’s growing season will bring. The yard here is pretty much a blank slate still. I’ve done a few things, like making a garden bed or two, making a bird bath garden, and added trees but there is a lot left to do to fit my vision of what this yard…
A New Camera is on Its Way!
Today I did something I’ve been thinking about for a while, I ordered a new camera! My old camera has been great, it’s an Olympus D-560, but I’ve been thinking that it was about time for an upgrade. I began taking quite a few garden pictures when I started up this blog back in October 2007 and would like to…
There Will Be Blood…
…meal in my garden this year. Blood meal is one of those organic additives that contribute to the quality of your soil. It has a very important nutrient: Nitrogen. Nitrogen is responsible for growing the green leafy growth on your plants. Since blood meal is made form the dried blood of livestock it is an organic product and releases the…
What Is The Least Favorite Plant in Your Garden?
For a long time now I have denigrated my Bradford pear tree. It’s smelly in the spring, although it looks nice. It produces loads of inedible fruit that spawns offspring in my garden and everywhere else the birds decide to fly. Bradford pear trees are generally weak trees that split because of their “V” shaped branch unions that cluster with more…
Kids and Gardens
Recently I was asked some questions about gardening with children and while there are certainly quite a few tips I could mention about the subject there is one idea that stands out above all others in my mind. Do what the kids love! Every kid is different and each one has as many different ideas as to what makes a…
Edible Landscaping for Beginners: Elements of a Sustainable Plan
In my last post I told you how to begin planning for an edible landscape and how to determine what to grow. Today let’s examine what elements you need to incorporate into the plan. With an edible landscape we need to focus on one thing: sustainability. Sustainability is a word used a lot these days and for our gardening goals…



