How to Propagate and Overwinter Tender Perennials from Cuttings with 100% Success
Taking late autumn cuttings of tender perennials is one of the most effective ways to save money and ensure a lush garden for the coming spring. Instead of letting frost kill off favorite garden perennials like Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage), Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans),…
The Most Reliable Plant Propagation Method Ever: Pot Layering Step-by-Step
Have you ever tried taking plant cuttings only to end up with a tray of dead sticks a few weeks later? We’ve all been there! Traditional cuttings can be tricky sometimes because you’re forcing a stem to survive with zero root system. There’s an easier…
Growing Sweetgum Trees from Seed – 1 Year Later
To say that sweetgum trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) are a favorite tree in the garden is going to be hit or miss with a lot of people. Sweetgum trees are well known for having some amazing fall color (which is why I love them) but also…
How to Propagate Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage) from Cuttings
Every autumn, Mexican Bush Sage puts on one of the most magnificent floral displays in my garden. The velvety purple flower spikes bloom late in the season when many other plants are winding down, giving us an awesome show before winter sets in. Because we…
What You Need to Know about Milkweed BEFORE You Plant!
If you have spent any time in the gardening community over the last several years, you have have probably heard about the critical importance of growing milkweed to support declining monarch butterfly populations. It is an incredibly vital plant, serving as the sole evolutionary host…
Coral Bark Japanese Maple – Overview of the ‘Sango Kaku’ Maple
Usually when I buy plants for the garden I buy smaller 1 gallon pots and wait (sometimes for years) for the trees grow up. But occasionally, I want something that has a more immediate impact. I recently splurged $200 on a 7 foot tall ‘Sango…
Stunning Flowers and Foliage: Why the Onondaga Viburnum is a Must-Have!
If there is one shrub I would recommend to every home gardener for spring color, it’s the ‘Onondaga’ Viburnum (Viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’). This spring our ‘Onondaga’ viburnum is just beginning to put on it’s seasonal show, and it’s awesome! In the spring its most notable…
15 Gardening Tasks for April!
April is an amazing time of year to get in the garden. The weather is better, the soil is warming up, and the plants are coming alive from their winter rest. April is the time of year when gardeners need to be going full speed…
March Gardening To-Do List: Getting Ready for Spring in Zone 7
March is a awesome month here in Middle Tennessee for gardeners. Zone 7, this is the time to shift from planning to actually getting in the garden. I’ve been out in my front garden tackling some essential chores to ensure a productive and beautiful growing…
Ice and Trees: Can Your Trees Recover?
Ice and trees do not mix well. A fact that we’re seeing all over Tennessee. The recent ice storm that barraged the state left people all over in varying states. A lot of people lost power due to fallen trees and ice. A lot of…
Stop Losing Cuttings! 10 Tips for Success with Hardwood Cuttings
Have you tried rooting hardwood cuttings only to have them rot or fail to grow? Don’t give up just yet. Hardwood propagation is one of the most rewarding ways to grow your garden for free, but there are a few “make or break” steps that…
32 Plants You Can Propagate from Hardwood Cuttings
Hardwood cuttings are cuttings that are taken from trees and shrubs that are fully mature, dormant stems. These cuttings are normally taken during the late fall or over winter several weeks before spring growth will begin. Hardwood cuttings differ from softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings. While…
Thank you for visiting Growing The Home Garden! I started Growing The Home Garden in 2007 as a way to chronicle my experiences in the garden.
All the content here is based on my personal experiences and research. A lot of my content is focused on raised bed gardening and plant propagation.
There is also a YouTube Channel for Growing the Home Garden which is over 38,000 subscribers (as of March 2024) that has a lot of gardening videos you may find helpful. Growing The Home Garden on YouTube. Thanks for reading and watching!
Raised Bed Gardening
How Deep do Raised Garden Beds Need To Be?
Raised beds are a great option for gardeners but how deep do they really need to be? The depth of a raised garden bed is an important factor to consider because it can greatly impact the health and productivity of your plants. The true answer to How deep do raised gardens need to be really is it depends! What the…
Raised Bed Garden Ideas (Planning for the New Garden)
Pretty soon we’ll be relocating to our new home. Our family is very excited about this but it also means starting the garden all over again. Everything including raised beds, sheds, and arbors will have to be rebuilt. While this is a tremendous amount of work I think it’s a great opportunity to start again and redevelop our garden with…
How to Fill Raised Beds Cheap!
I love gardening in raised beds. It is one of the simplest ways to have success with a vegetable garden. That doesn’t take anything away from all the other methods of gardening, only that I believe that raised beds are a great way for gardeners of all backgrounds and skill levels to garden successfully. The best reason to like raised…
Common Raised Bed Garden Questions Answered
Raised beds are one of the absolute BEST ways to grow a garden but there can be challenges to growing in raised beds. Often gardeners have questions about the best methods to grow in a raised bed. In this post I’ve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on my experience. I’ve grown in…
Plant Propagation Information
Plant propagation is one of my favorite things to do in the garden! Below are some articles on how to propagate various plants. You can also check this page out with specific info on plant propagation: Plant Propagation for Home Gardens
Propagating Arborvitae from Cuttings
Have you ever considered propagating arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) from cuttings? It’s an easy and fun way to make more plants. Arborvitae can make a great privacy screen and hedge. Here you will find the steps I take to propagate arborvitae as well as a video…
Plant Propagation Cloner
I came across a video today on Youtube that I thought was a fantastic demonstration of how to build a plant propagation cloner! This is a DIY project I would love to try when I have a bit more time. If you have tried something…
How to Grow Sweetbay Magnolia from Seeds
No matter where I go when I see seeds that are ripe I’m tempted to collect them. That was the case when walking around Knoxville last year and seeing some ripe magnolia seeds on some Sweetbay magnolia plants. Sweetbay magnolias have several names including: sweetbay…
How to Propagate and Overwinter Tender Perennials from Cuttings with 100% Success
Taking late autumn cuttings of tender perennials is one of the most effective ways to save money and ensure a lush garden for the coming spring. Instead of letting frost kill off favorite garden perennials like Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage), Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans),…
Garden Shed Plant Propagation Update
This year was the first year I’ve been able to house my cuttings in the garden shed. It’s been great so far. There’s no heat but the plants have been protected from the coldest of the winter lows. Essentially I’ve moved them 1-2 heat zones…
Propagating Mums for Profit
It’s kind of an odd subject to bring up during spring but propagating mums for profit takes time. Spring is when you have to get started for fall mum sales. For the purposes of this article we are talking about the common chrysanthemum you find…
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
5 Companion Plants and How They Help!
I’ve mentioned several times about the value of companion planting so today for the Friday Fives I thought I’d go a little more into detail with some specific plants. Companion planting is an integrated planting technique where the plants benefit each other through pest repulsion or through other beneficial qualities. 5 Companion Plants and How They Help Companion planting is…
Edible Landscaping for Beginners: Evaluate Your Garden
After you have a good list of the elements your edible landscape needs and you have pieced together a solid “To Grow” list you need to evaluate what you already have in your garden. Some people might put this step first and that’s OK but if you do your evaluation after you decide what you want to grow you can…
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. …
Garden Techniques to Deal with the Summer Heat and High Temperatures
Summertime in Tennessee will be HOT. No doubt about it! We frequently get into the upper 90’s and sometimes it can last for several days in a row. You need a plan for your garden to deal with the hot temperatures. Most warm season plants that you grow will do fine with a few basic techniques for dealing with the…
Creating the 2019 Vegetable Garden Plan
December brings us to the end of another year. As a gardener you know that just because the calendar year may be ending our work (fun) is just beginning. It’s time to plan your 2019 Vegetable Garden. To me planning is the fun part. During the planning process I get to look for new varieties of seeds to try, think…
The Best Way To Plant A Tomato
Tomatoes have to be America’s favorite fruit of the garden. Yes it is technically a fruit, even though it has been widely accepted for years as a vegetable. This post is not about whether it’s a fruit or not but rather about how to plant a tomato plant, the most delicious fruit of the garden, the best way possible. When to…