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 hostâŠ
Coral Bark Japanese Maple â Overview of the âSango Kakuâ 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 âSangoâŠ
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, itâs the âOnondagaâ Viburnum (Viburnum sargentii âOnondagaâ). This spring our âOnondagaâ viburnum is just beginning to put on itâs seasonal show, and itâs awesome! In the spring its most notableâŠ
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 speedâŠ
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. Iâve been out in my front garden tackling some essential chores to ensure a productive and beautiful growingâŠ
Ice and Trees: Can Your Trees Recover?
Ice and trees do not mix well. A fact that weâre 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 ofâŠ
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? Donât give up just yet. Hardwood propagation is one of the most rewarding ways to grow your garden for free, but there are a few âmake or breakâ steps thatâŠ
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. WhileâŠ
Starting Tree Seeds Outdoors: A Simple Guide to Diverse Landscapes
Trees are the anchors of our landscapes. They enrich the soil, provide oxygen, offer shelter and food for wildlife, and deliver incredible seasonal beauty. My goal is to diversify our property by replacing invasive plants with a variety of beautiful, beneficial trees and shrubs. InâŠ
How to Start Tree and Shrub Seeds in the Fall (Seed Prep)
Fall is the perfect time to start preparing tree and shrub seeds that need a period of cold weather before theyâll sprout. When seed starting tree and shrub seeds I use two techniques that help to trigger better germination rates. The first technique is simplyâŠ
American Beautyberry â Callicarpa americana
Every so often, I come across a plant Iâve been hunting for and I get pretty excited. That was the case this week when I finally tracked down American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) a native shrub thatâs been on my wish list for quite a whileâŠ.
With Dogwood Tree Cuttings Shorter Cuttings Work Best
A couple months ago I managed to root a dogwood tree from cuttings. Only 1 of 3 cuttings rooted but I still considered it a success. After all it was the first time I had managed to root a dogwood tree from a cutting. YouâŠ
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 theâŠ
Raised Bed Garden Ideas (Planning for the New Garden)
Pretty soon weâll 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 itâs a great opportunity to start again and redevelop our garden withâŠ
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 doesnât 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 raisedâŠ
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 Iâve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on my experience. Iâve grown inâŠ
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
How to Grow Heucheras (Coral Bells) from Seed
With all the nasty but necessary weather weâve been having lately itâs been hard to get out in the garden to work. Whatâs a gardener to do? Talk about the seedlings growing inside! Today Iâm going to give you an update on how I amâŠ
How to Propagate âPurple Homesteadâ Verbena
Flowering of the Purple Homestead Verbena If you havenât tried growing âPurple Homesteadâ Verbena in your home garden you really should! Iâve used this purple flowering perennial in three places so far and can think of many more locations I would like to see themâŠ.
5 Methods to Propagate Plants!
Hereâs a topic Iâm a huge fan of: PLANT PROPAGATION! Iâve talked about it repeatedly and those of you who have followed Growing The Home Garden over the years have seen some of my plant propagation experiments. I thought for todayâs Friday Five post IâŠ
How to Propagate Catmint from Cuttings (Nepeta faassinii)
Last Saturday I was shopping at a nursery where I found a âWalkerâs Lowâ Catmint (Nepeta faassinii). Iâve talked about the benefits of Nepeta before so it may not be a surprise that I bought one. I planted the new perennial the other day inâŠ
How to Propagate Winter Jasmine by Taking Advantage of Aerial Roots
You all know how much I like making new plants, but you should also know that I really like it when plants make it easy for the propagator. Many plants do just that by creating aerial roots that normally will be used to grab ontoâŠ
Propagating Peppers Through Cuttings
You might think that peppers are one of those seed only grown plants.  For many gardeners they are, but what if you want an exact copy of a favorite pepper plant?  With peppers we typically sow the seeds in late winter and grow the seedlingsâŠ
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
Thinking About The Future Vegetable Garden
Recently I went over to our property and filmed a short video showing where our vegetable garden could eventually be. Itâs fun to imagine the good that the future holds but at the same time itâs frustrating that we arenât already digging in that dirt! I have all kinds of ideas in mind for the gardens. Edible vegetable areas, fruitâŠ
Blooms And No Squash, This Might be the Problem!
This time of year the squash is blooming away, but what if thatâs all you get? What if all you see on the plant are blooms? The plant is perfectly healthy with no signs of any issues but still isnât setting fruit. If you have blooms and no squash the answer may be as simple as the type of flowersâŠ
Growing âMoon and Starsâ Heirloom Watermelon in the Garden
This year Iâm really excited about our watermelons. I picked out the âMoon and Starsâ variety which not only is reported to be an excellent tasting variety but looks really neat too. âMoon and Starsâ are an heirloom variety that acquire a mottled coloring on the rind surfaces that resemble the night time sky! The nighttime sky also appears onâŠ
My Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Changes for 2010
Each year I try to expand the vegetable garden a little bit more. The first year in our home I didnât have time to put together a garden before the growing season started and we missed out on any vegetable garden. The âLâ Shaped Raised Beds: The second year I put together a set of raised beds that were arrangedâŠ
How to Direct Sow Squash and Zucchini Seeds
As far as gardening chores go direct sowing squash and zucchini seeds is a very easy task for any home gardener to accomplish. In fact itâs a great one to do with young children who you want to encourage to get outdoors and in the garden. Squash and zucchini seeds are large seeds that are easy for kids to handleâŠ.
Propagating Peppers Through Cuttings
You might think that peppers are one of those seed only grown plants.  For many gardeners they are, but what if you want an exact copy of a favorite pepper plant?  With peppers we typically sow the seeds in late winter and grow the seedlings on to plant out in the spring. Through cuttings we have another way to growâŠ