My 3 Favorite Plant Growing Methods

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posted on March 10, 2019 Leave a Comment
Last updated on: July 24, 2019

Use these 3 simple plant growing methods to grow a money-making plant nursery right in your backyard.

daylilies with green leaf blades and pink flowers with a yellow center — Hundreds of Daylilies grown and sold in my backyard.

The Beginning

I’m going to start growing plants from home, right in my back yard.
I guess that’s the idea I had at some point, but I honestly don’t remember when.

All I know is that sometime in my early 20’s I started to develop a love for plants and landscapes.

I really enjoyed visiting plant nurseries and I guess I got the idea in my head that maybe one day I could grow my own plants and have a nursery of my own.

Only problem was I didn’t know anything about growing plants!
After doing some research I realized there were several different methods for growing plants.

With the little space available in my backyard, I decided to just dive in and experiment with all these different plant growing methods.

I also had a small landscaping company here in New Hampshire at the time so I figured I could make some money using home grown plants on my installs.

But I never would have guessed what it would turn into. After just a couple of seasons I had converted my small backyard into a serious backyard nursery with over 3,650 plants on about 1/10th of an acre!

1000 3 gallon shrubs on black nursery mat in backyard. — The view from my deck. About 1000 shrubs recently planted in 3- gallon containers. I’m in the top right at the potting table.

I should point out that this isn’t my full-time job. I have a very busy job as a construction manager so spare time is very limited. For me this has been a great “side hustle”.

How Do I Grow Plants from Home?

The funny thing about this is that growing your own plants isn’t that difficult. After a lot of experimenting I learned that It really comes down to 3 simple methods…at least these are the 3 methods I use to grow plants in my backyard…

Buy Small and Grow Big

The simplest method, and also my favorite involves purchasing small perennial plugs, shrub liners, and/or bare root stock, and potting them up into larger nursery containers.

The plants grow into a larger and more valuable plant. Easiest concept imaginable.

Starting Seeds Indoors

I really like this method for starting perennials, this is something you can do indoors, during the winter months when things are slow and you miss being outside.

It requires some infrastructure and know-how, and timing is extremely important when starting seeds indoors.

Hardwood Cuttings

This is another great winter project and a simple way to propagate shrubs. If you can put a stick in a layer of sand then you can grow shrubs using hardwood cuttings.