Why Planting Onions and Potatoes Together Makes Sense
Companion planting is a great technique for a successful gardening. There are many combinations of garden plants that work well together including onions and potatoes. Here’s why! What is Companion Planting? How does it work for Potatoes and Onions? Companion planting takes advantage of complementary…
A New Vegetable Garden Layout
Over the years I’ve done several vegetable garden layouts for my garden. I’ve always tried to make improvements to the vegetable garden. My goal is to make it more efficient for growing yet still aesthetically pleasing and fun to be in. This year however isn’t…
Seed Starting Update – February 2025
February means I am well into seed starting for the year! It’s exciting to see those newly planted seeds turn into sprouts and begin growing. Every year I try to plant a large variety of vegetable garden plants including the must have tomato and peppers…
When Should You Cut Back Perennials for Spring?
Spring is just around the corner but the cold days of winter are still present here in Tennessee. Sometimes we have really nice, beautiful, spring-like days in February and it’s so tempting to get in the garden and get a lot of work done. One…
Kingsyard Squirrel Proof Birdfeeder
One major reason many of us garden is to enjoy seeing wildlife. I think it’s pretty rare to find a gardener who doesn’t also enjoy a little bird watching. Birds can be great to have around the garden as well. Kingsyard recently sent me a…
Garden Project Goals for 2025
Every year I like to create a list of garden projects that I plan to tackle for the year. It’s a list of goals that I would love to accomplish but often due to time I find I planned for more than I can do….
How Long Do Seeds Last? (Seed Viability)
Everything has it’s own time, even seeds. They just don’t last forever! Fortunately though many seeds do last a long period of time and you can use seed from previous years to grow your garden. I’ve had tomato seeds germinate that were over 10 years…
Things to Know About Using Woodchips and Leaves in the Garden
If you are a gardener you have probably heard people talking about how great woodchips are. That is probably because they are a very good resource for building up organic matter. Woodchips and leaves are also very easy to acquire and and best of all…
Compost Bins from Pallets
Compost bins are essential in the garden. They take the waste materials from the yard, garden, kitchen, or farm and turn it into usable soil. Good compost is worth its weight in gold to gardeners which is exactly why it is nicknamed “gardener’s gold.” One…
Overwintering Rosemary
Rosemary is a wonderful plant for gardening. I love it as a ornamental shrub as well as an edible herb. The problem is it CAN be finicky. Sometimes the winter cold is too tough for rosemary and it sadly dies over the winter. Fortunately there…
Maples, Oaks, and Invasives! Fall Color 2024
The historic dryness finally gave way to some rain on Halloween. About 0.83 inches came down that day give us a good soaking. We still need more rain, and regular rain but it definitely helps. I’ve been concerned about the lack rain and the fall…
Fall Color in Tennessee 2024 so far…
I have a fondness for fall color. I think we all do this time of year. We like seeing the transition of green to gold or red and oranges. There’s a little bit of a feeling of closure that begins to come to us through…
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 30,000 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 Stevia from Cuttings
There are some plants that are tricky to propagate but stevia isn’t one of them! In fact stevia is very easy to root from cuttings. Read on to learn more about propagating stevia from cuttings! Why Would You Want to Propagate Steve from Cuttings? Stevia…
How to Save Coleus Over The Winter
Coleus (Solenostemon now Plectranthus 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 all…
Russian Sage Propagation through Hardwood Cuttings Results
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is indeed easy to propagate from hardwood cuttings. In fact taking hardwood cuttings may prove more reliable than from softwood cuttings. I’ll continue with both methods at the appropriate times of the year but the hardwood cuttings have not had any…
How to Grow Plants from Hardwood Cuttings (Winter Plant Propagation)
I’ve always been one to enjoy experimenting with plant propagation in the garden. This past weekend, since the weather was so pleasant, I went on hardwood cutting spree. Hardwood cuttings are very easy to do. The success rate varies quite a lot depending on the…
Germinating Japanese Maple Seeds in a Plastic Bag
I love a nice Japanese maple! Who doesn’t? There are Japanese maples with variegated leaves, ones with deep burgundy colors, others with interesting shaped leaves that are highly dissected and many other kinds. The fall color on a Japanese is almost always guaranteed to be something special. Their…
How to Propagate Birch Trees Through Cuttings – Info on Rooting Birch Trees
Birch tree cutting from a cutting taken in summer Have you ever wanted to try propagating birch trees from cuttings? The river birch is definitely worth propagating for your garden for many reasons. First of all birch trees can be rooted! While I’ve tried propagating…
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
Pruning off The Lower Leaves of Tomato and Pepper Plants: Limbing Up
Every home gardener wants their plants to thrive and do well. Often there are little, easy to do things that can greatly improve the chances of plants in your garden succeeding. Here we are going to talk about one thing you can do to help your tomato and pepper plants grow great: pruning off the lower leaves or as I…
Fall is for Planting Garlic in the Garden
It’s October and the temperatures are getting cooler which makes it ideal for planting garlic! I just planted two raised beds full of garlic a few days ago. Garlic loves to start in cooler weather and this coming week we are predicted to have some night temperatures in the 30 degree range. It should be perfect for the newly planted…
My Favorite Tomato and Pepper Varieties
It’s getting close now. Can you feel it? Seed starting time! In preparation for my seed starting activities of 2020 I thought it would be fun to tell you about my favorite tomato and pepper varieties for Growing The Home Garden. In this video I go through some of my tried and try peppers and tomato varieties. They may not…
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…
15 Plants to Start in August for Fall in Tennessee
It may not seem to be the right time to be thinking about fall but it is! Temperatures are still in the 90’s here in Middle Tennessee but we have to get those fall seeds started and now is the time. Growing plants from seeds requires enough time to maturity to make sure you can have an abundant crop. Below…
5 Fall Things to Do to in Fall to Prepare the Vegetable Garden for Spring
The fall season is a busy one. We’re all busy cleaning up the outside areas of our homes and gardens to prepare for colder days ahead. The list of things to do this fall isn’t a short one but if you can fit a few more items to your list you will save yourself some time in the spring! Let’s…