Beginner-friendly gardening guides from Laura Bennett — a backyard gardener in Asheville, North Carolina (USDA Zone 7a) who’s been growing food and cut flowers for nine years. Her 14-raised-bed garden, cut-flower patch, and dahlia collection are where every guide starts. You’ll find seasonal planting calendars for Zones 5–9, step-by-step guides for raised beds and container gardens, dahlia and hydrangea care, companion planting, no-dig methods, pest control without chemicals, and the mistakes Laura made so you don’t have to. If a technique survives a North Carolina summer and a wet spring in her own beds, it makes it onto HomeGlowHacks. Browse the latest gardening articles below.
What Is a Herb Spiral — And Why Is It Genius? A herb spiral is one of the most clever garden structures ever devised. Borrowed from permaculture design, it’s a compact, spiraling raised bed that creates multiple growing microclimates in a footprint no bigger than a parking space. The spiral shape rises from ground level … Read more
Starting seeds indoors is the single best way to get a head start on the growing season — and it costs a fraction of buying transplants at the nursery. A simple setup with a few seed trays, some potting mix, and an inexpensive grow light is all you need to turn a packet of seeds … Read more
Hugelkultur is the lazy gardener’s dream — and one of the smartest things you can do with fallen branches, old logs, and yard waste that would otherwise go to the landfill. This centuries-old German technique buries wood under soil to create raised beds that water themselves, feed themselves, and get more fertile every year as … Read more
Why Every Flower Lover Needs a Cutting Garden There’s a special kind of joy in walking into your backyard, scissors in hand, and cutting a bouquet of flowers you grew yourself. No trips to the florist, no wilting supermarket bunches that last three days, no guilt about the price tag. Just fresh, beautiful flowers from … Read more
When I ran out of ground space in my backyard garden, I looked up — and everything changed. Vertical gardening is one of the best-kept secrets for small space growers, and a good trellis can triple your growing area while adding beautiful structure to your garden. The best part? You do not need to spend … Read more
Why Every Garden Needs Pollinators (And Why They Need You) Here’s a fact that might change how you think about your backyard: one out of every three bites of food you eat exists because a pollinator made it possible. Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of roughly 75% of flowering … Read more
You do not need a big backyard to grow sweet, juicy strawberries. A few containers on a sunny patio, balcony, or porch are all it takes — and the strawberries you grow at home will taste dramatically better than anything from the grocery store. That is not an exaggeration. Store-bought strawberries are picked underripe and … Read more
Build a container snack garden with cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, mini cucumbers & herbs. Perfect for balconies, patios & small spaces. Tips inside.
There is something incredibly satisfying about planting a seed and eating what it becomes just a few weeks later. If you are the kind of gardener who checks on seedlings every morning (guilty!), fast-growing vegetables are going to be your new obsession. These are the crops that reward impatient gardeners with quick, tangible results — … Read more
Discover the best spring-planted bulbs for 2026 — dahlias, calla lilies, gladiolus & more. Zone-by-zone timing, planting depth guide, and summer bloom tips.
