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 hostā¦
Coral Bark Japanese Maple ā Overview of the āSango Kakuā 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 āSangoā¦
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, itās the āOnondagaā Viburnum (Viburnum sargentii āOnondagaā). This spring our āOnondagaā viburnum is just beginning to put on itās seasonal show, and itās awesome! In the spring its most notableā¦
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 speedā¦
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. Iāve been out in my front garden tackling some essential chores to ensure a productive and beautiful growingā¦
Ice and Trees: Can Your Trees Recover?
Ice and trees do not mix well. A fact that weāre 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 ofā¦
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? Donāt give up just yet. Hardwood propagation is one of the most rewarding ways to grow your garden for free, but there are a few āmake or breakā steps thatā¦
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. Whileā¦
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. Inā¦
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 theyāll sprout. When seed starting tree and shrub seeds I use two techniques that help to trigger better germination rates. The first technique is simplyā¦
American Beautyberry ā Callicarpa americana
Every so often, I come across a plant Iāve 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 thatās been on my wish list for quite a whileā¦.
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. Youā¦
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 onĀ raised bed gardeningĀ andĀ 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.Ā 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 theā¦
Raised Bed Garden Ideas (Planning for the New Garden)
Pretty soon weāll 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 itās a great opportunity to start again and redevelop our garden withā¦
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 doesnāt 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 raisedā¦
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 Iāve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on my experience. Iāve grown inā¦
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 Root and Grow Russian Sage from Cuttings (Plant Propagation)
Iāve propagated many plants over the years and one of my favorite plants to propagate is Russian sage. Yesterday I was able to transplant several Russian sage cuttings (Perovskia atriplicifolia*) into pots to grow for a little while until I can plant them in theā¦
How to Save Coleus Over The Winter
Coleus (Solenostemon now PlectranthusĀ scutellarioides) is one of those lucky annuals that can be saved from a merciless death by frost and freeze. Coleus, which is actually a tropical perennial, can be kept indoors as a house plant then replanted outside in the spring once allā¦
Oak Leaf Hydrangea ā Garden Favorites
Over the years I have grown many plants. I have a bit of a collectors attitude toward my garden and pick out unique plants as much as possible. Some of those plants havenāt done well for me, but other plants have simply been amazing. Iā¦
Variegated Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) āMariesii Variegataā
A couple years ago I propagated a variegated hydrangea from a beautiful hydrangea that was in my wifeās auntās garden. Hydrangeas are extremely easy to propagate and well worth the effort but unfortunately the spot I chose to plant it wasnāt good enough. I hadā¦
How Iāll Use My Greenhouse
Iāve been thinking about how Iām going to use my greenhouse lately. Thereās just enough complete on the greenhouse construction to tantalize my imagination and since people use greenhouse in so many ways that the options are virtually limitless.I donāt grow orchids or many tropicalā¦
Echinacea in the Garden ā Why You Should Plant Coneflowers!
For this post I really donāt need any words, the pictures will explain why you should plant echinacea (coneflowers) in your landscape. But since this is a blog I have to tell you why I like echinacea in the garden and where Iāve planted it!ā¦
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
What Causes Catfacing in Tomatoes?
Before I delve into the catfacing issue letās clear up a big misconception: catfaced tomatoes do not actually look like catfaces! Now that weāve covered that important fact that letās talk about what catfacing is and what causes your tomatoes to look like deformed monstrosities. Catfacing is a general term gardeners use to describe deformations of the tomato fruit. Itā¦
5 Companion Plants and How They Help!
Iāve mentioned several times about the value of companion planting so today for the Friday Fives I thought Iād go a little more into detail with some specific plants.Ā Companion planting is an integrated planting technique where the plants benefit each other through pest repulsion or through other beneficial qualities.Ā 5 Companion Plants and How They Help Companion planting isā¦
5 Vegetables I Will Always Grow In My Garden
It probably seems early and with scattered snow it certain feels early but itās never too early to start thinking about the vegetable garden! Store bought vegetables just donāt thrill me the way the fresh garden picked varieties do. It makes sense when you consider that garden grown vegetables donāt have to be picked days before use just to beā¦
5 Fall Vegetables for Your Garden
Fall is creeping closer and closer each day which brings to mind cool evening breezes, pumpkins, festivals, the Fall Color Project (more on that later), and of course the fall vegetable growing season.Ā Most gardeners seem to garden almost exclusively in the spring or summer and donāt even consider the fall.Ā Itās probably since starting plants this time of yearā¦
Vegetable Garden Layout ā 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 Iāll 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 Iāll share with you below theā¦
Marigolds are a Must Plant Annual, Hereās Why
This post will begin a series of several posts that I believe are āmust haveā garden plans! These are plants that I think are great for the garden in some way. Maybe they are beneficial for growing other plants, have some important benefits, maybe in the case of vegetable produce are delicious, or are simply beautiful plants to have around!ā¦