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¦
āOctober Gloryā Maple Tree (Acer rubrum)
Over the weekend I planted an āOctober Gloryā maple tree. I chose this tree as one of my first fall plantings of 2025 for a several reasons. One of those reasons was a little sentimental. You see when my wife and I bought our firstā¦
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
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¦
8 Popular Plant Propagation Posts!
Since so much of the garden right now is suffering from lack of adequate rainfall I thought it might be a good time to look back at a few past plant propagation posts.Ā Some of these are favorites of mine and hopefully they will beā¦
How to Propagate a Deciduous Magnolia Through Layering
Layering is a fantastic way to make more free plants with very little risk. Propagating a plant through layering usually involves pinning down a branch to make contact with the soil so that the branch can begin forming roots. Ā Iāve used layering to propagate moreā¦
Salvia farinacea (āBlue Bedderā) Mealy Cup Sage How to Grow and Propagate
Iāve said repeatedly that Iām a fan of salvias. Itās no wonder since they bloom prolifically, are easy to care for, and attract pollinators right and left. One salvia in my garden (among many) that Iāve accumulated is the āBlue Bedderā Salvia farinacea which isā¦
How to Propagate Montauk Daisy
Rooting Leaf Cuttings of Sedums
Every now and then there is a plant that will root from the leaves, like Asiatic lilies I wrote about earlier in the year. Sedums are another one of those kinds of plants. Recently I rooted several cuttings of āAutumn Joyā sedum and another sedumā¦
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great 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 90ās 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 theā¦
Everything You Need to Know About Growing Amazing Peppers
Whether you want to learn more about growing bell peppers, banana peppers, or hot spicy peppers there are a few things you need to know! Peppers are a popular vegetable among home gardeners, prized for all kinds of vibrant colors, flavors, and great nutritional benefits. Peppers are absolutely one of my favorite vegetable garden plants to grow. Here is someā¦
Growing Corn for the Home Gardener
Growing corn in the home garden is a little different from growing in the farm fields. Corn has a few traits that you need to understand before you plant so that you can get a successful crop of corn in the late summer and fall. Letās talk about growing corn as it applies to a home gardener! Planting Corn inā¦
Growing Heirloom Hot Peppers
I love heirloom plants and hot peppers are no exception. The fact that the genetic makeup of a vegetable or fruit can be traced back in time many years makes the special. In some cases they have a historical context, but the main reason I like them is that heirloom peppers (and other plants) usually have a better flavor thanā¦
5 Reasons Why Growing Organically in the Home Garden is Better
By now youāve probably heard about the study that says organically grown vegetables are not any healthier than their āconventionallyā grown counterparts. Ā If you havenāt Iāll sum it up in a nutshell. The study examined the nutrients and vitamins present in organic produce and compared it to conventionally grown vegetables and didnāt find a significant difference between the two.Ā This mightā¦
How to Save Seeds from Squash and Zucchini
Saving seeds of squash and zucchini is a very simple process. When the growing season begins to wan start allowing a few squash fruits to grow. They will become large and tough and wonāt be well suited for eating but will be perfect for generating seeds. Once the squash fruits are of a suitable extra large size harvest them andā¦