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…
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. In…
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 they’ll sprout. When seed starting tree and shrub seeds I use two techniques that help to trigger better germination rates. The first technique is simply…
American Beautyberry – Callicarpa americana
Every so often, I come across a plant I’ve 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 that’s been on my wish list for quite a while….
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. You…
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
How to Propagate Asiatic Lilies From Leaves
Asiatic lilies are a plant that in the right conditions can develop roots from leaf cuttings. Not all plants work this way but some lilies develop bulbils from the leaf area. This technique below uses that trait to help stimulate root growth from the ends…
How to Propagate Rosemary from Cuttings
A few years ago I wrote post about propagating rosemary from cuttings placed in water. That method for propagating rosemary is a viable method for sure but you probably will have more success if you take your rosemary cuttings and stick them in soil instead….
Garden Tips for Before a Frost
As the first frost approaches, now is the time to take essential steps to protect your garden and set yourself up for success next spring. Below are a few simple garden tips that can help you save money and preserve your favorite plants while extending…
Plants to Propagate in Winter
Fruiting Plum trees rooted through hardwood cuttings. Winter is officially here! If you’re reading this post you are probably thinking what I can do in the garden in winter? Well if you’re a fan of plant propagation you should try some winter plant propagation! What…
How to Propagate Grape Vines through Greenwood Cuttings
Last week I made some cuttings of my ‘Concord’ grape vine in an attempt to make a few more vines. Grapes are great edible plants to have in the garden whether you like eating them at the table, making juice, or even making wine. Grapes…
Propagating ‘Shasta’ Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum) from Cuttings
I have many favorite plants (as all gardeners can attest to) but I am really a big fan of viburnums. Many viburnums have showy flowers in the spring, leafy green foliage throughout the growing season, and great fall color. Some are evergreen, many provide food…
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
The Ugliest Tomato I Ever Grew
I’ve been looking back at my photo albums lately. Looking back at old photos helps to get a perspective of where the garden is going by remembering where it’s been. I can see how effective my efforts are at developing a garden, how much things have grown, and remember old plants I might not have anymore. While perusing the photos…
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. It’s fun to imagine the good that the future holds but at the same time it’s frustrating that we aren’t already digging in that dirt! I have all kinds of ideas in mind for the gardens. Edible vegetable areas, fruit…
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…
Starting Tomato and Pepper Plants from Seeds
I find that there are few things more rewarding in gardening than growing plants from seed. It saves money and lets you grow a variety of really cool plants that aren’t locally available. More than that though there is a feeling of satisfaction you get when you harvest from those plants you grew. Starting tomato and pepper plants from seed…
Growing Mustard in the Home Vegetable Garden
I’m a huge fan of mustard. There are few snacks I enjoy more than pretzels dipped in a delicious honey mustard. I love it on sandwiches and as an ingredient in all sorts of things from chicken dishes to potato salad. Mustard is simply awesome. That’s my opinion anyway. It’s also extremely easy to grow mustard in the garden. How…
Vegetable Garden Layout – Parterre Style!
The other day I posted about the next evolution of my garden on its way to becoming a more formalized vegetable garden. Today I’ll show you the layout of what I hope the vegetable garden will eventually become. There are some distinct advantages to the layout changes that I am planning on making that I’ll share with you below the…