Laura BennettLaura Bennett

Laura Bennett killed her first tomato plant in 2017. By 2019 she had a small raised-bed garden keeping her family in vegetables from May through October. Today, her Asheville, North Carolina backyard (USDA Zone 7a) is home to 14 raised beds, a small cut-flower patch full of dahlias and zinnias, three fruit trees, and a compost system that finally works. Laura writes for gardeners who want real answers to real questions — when to start tomatoes in Zone 7, why your dahlia tubers rotted over winter, whether you actually need to rotate crops in a small raised bed. She's learned most of it the slow way, by making the mistake herself, and her guides are built on what worked in her own garden, not generic gardening-book advice. She's especially into cut flowers (dahlias are her favorite), container gardening for small spaces, and no-dig methods. If a technique survives a North Carolina summer and a wet spring in her own beds, it makes it onto HomeGlowHacks. Follow Laura on Pinterest for seasonal planting guides, beginner gardening tips, and cut-flower inspiration.

Growing Dahlias for Beginners: How to Plant Tubers This Spring for Stunning Summer Blooms

by
A stunning dahlia garden in full summer bloom with dinner plate dahlias in coral, deep burgundy, bright pink, peach, and white, lush green foliage, a rustic wooden garden fence in the background, a...

If you have ever stopped in your tracks to admire a dahlia at a farmers market or in someone’s front yard, you know exactly why these flowers have such a devoted following. Those dinner-plate-sized blooms in every color imaginable — peach, burgundy, coral, bright pink, deep purple — are absolutely showstopping. And here is the … Read more