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…
Fall 2024 Garden Tour
I find Garden Tours fun to put together. It’s an opportunity incessantly talk about plants, plans, and ideas and that is one of my favorite things to do! I put together a garden tour of our current garden on YouTube which you can watch down…
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…
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…
How to Grow Sweetbay Magnolia from Seeds
No matter where I go when I see seeds that are ripe I’m tempted to collect them. That was the case when walking around Knoxville last year and seeing some ripe magnolia seeds on some Sweetbay magnolia plants. Sweetbay magnolias have several names including: sweetbay…
Where are the Monarch Butterflies?
All summer I’ve been watching and waiting to see a flock of Monarch butterflies soaring through the air to lite upon our abundant field of milkweed. So far I’ve been disappointed. The Monarch butterflies on our property have only numbered one. I was mowing along…
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 I’ll Use My Greenhouse
I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to use my greenhouse lately. There’s 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 don’t grow orchids or many tropical…
Propagating Perennials: Russian Sage, Salvia, and Coneflower
Spring is a great time for what? PERENNIAL PLANT PROPAGATION! OK, I get excited about making new plants and I wanted to share a little of what I’ve been working on in the garden. Spring really is a great time to take cuttings of your…
Growing More Plants Through Plant Propagation: Variegated Hydrangeas, and Perennials
Even though the summer is upon us it’s still a good time to propagate plants. The key is to keep cuttings moist and at a steady temperature until roots have formed. Then they can be easily acclimated to outdoor temperatures. I do all of my…
How to Propagate Crape Myrtles: Step by Step
This weekend I picked up some cuttings of a red flowering crape myrtle to propagate. I took 6 inch hardwood cuttings that were just beginning to leaf out. Since I didn’t have time to treat them right away I left them in a jar of…
Plant By Plant Guide of How to Propagate Plants
Here is a little guide on various plants that you can propagate in your home garden. I’ve included the types of propagation where I’ve been successful (seeds, Layering, Division, Cuttings, etc.). If I can do it so can you! The links in the tables below…
Propagating Grape Vines with Greenwood Cuttings
I’m always looking for new plants to experiment on to see if I can get them to root. Yesterday I took some cuttings from a grape vine at my mom’s house. Grape vines are pretty popular with home gardeners who want to grow their own…
Growing Home Vegetable Gardens
Articles with tips and ideas on how to grow a great vegetable garden.
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…
A Few Tips on Fall and Winter Gardening
So many of us gardeners tend to think of one thing when it comes to the vegetable garden – tomatoes! I know I do, although in recent years I’ve become very partial to peppers. The garden doesn’t have to just be about those summer vegetables. In many areas you can continue to garden well into the winter months. Here in…
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…
Starting Seeds for Basil and Pepper in Peat Pellets
It’s time for another seed starting update for our basil and peppers in peat pellets. I plant basil and peppers every year for our vegetable garden. I find that basil is indispensable as a seasoning and for making pesto. Basil also has a some companion planting benefits when planted alongside the vegetables in the garden (particularly the tomatoes!) Peppers are…
How to Repot and Transplant Tomato and Pepper Plants (Upsizing)
If you start seeds yourself rather than purchase plants one important step in the process is transplanting. Repotting and transplanting tomatoes and peppers allows them to grow larger root systems so that when you do plant them in the garden they are more established (upsizing). There are a few tips that I want to share with you when transplanting your…
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 won’t 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 and…