Think you don’t have a green thumb? Think again! This simple garden tip for fuller & bushier plants will transform your garden and really impress those neighbors. Welcome to the Home Adventures gardening blog.
Take a look at some of your herbs, flowers, and vegetable plants. If they have a tiny leaf or stem growing between the main stem and a leaf attached to the main stem, then you have an axillary plant. Axillary literally means armpit! Taking advantage of this type of plant can really improve the shape of said plant.
Axillary leaves on an herb
What Kinds of Plants are Axillary?
There are a whole host of plants that have this stem structure! Here is a list of some common ones:
Flowers
Bee Balm
Roses
Lilies
Hibiscus
Snapdragons
Tulips
Daisies
Marigolds
Zinnias
Peonies
Carnations
Hydrangeas
Lavender
Sunflowers
Lilacs
Vegetables
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumbers
Eggplants
Squash
Fruit
Raspberries
Blackberries
Grapes
Blueberries
Strawberries
Herbs
Basil
Mint
Oregano
Thyme
Cilantro (Coriander)
The Ultimate Garden Hack
Developing plants that are fuller, bushier, offer more blooms, and bigger fruit is as simple as looking for the point where you have an axillary point. This is the easiest garden tip I like to look for this early in the season and periodically check back for more opportunities to prune throughout the growing season.
Garden Tip for a Larger Plant:
Growing a fuller plant with either more leaves or flowers involves snipping the main stem at an axillary point, in order to encourage the secondary stems to grow. As you can see in the photos below, by snipping the main stemp (center), you encourage two new stems to grow (left and right photos). For herbs, especially basil, it’s also an easy way to prevent it from bolting (flowering), thus prolonging the plant’s life and use.
Bee Balm Pruning ResultSimply Snip the Main StemHerb Pruning Result
Garden Tip for Larger Fruit/Vegetables:
If you are more interested in larger fruits or vegetables, pruning the axillary stems will help the plan to concentrate more energy into the fruit instead of into growing more stems. You may hear gardeners call the axillary offshoots of a tomato plant “suckers”.
Egglant SuckerTomato Sucker
In the dog-days of summer, these suckers can run wild if you aren’t checking every day. Even then, there might be some that escape your inspection and can start to grow quite large. With tomatoes, you can pick the sucker off and plant it in the ground to start a whole new plant.
Enjoy the fruit of your labor with minimal effort!
Have you seen those cedar garden bed kits at Home Depot or Lowes? Or the really fancy ones on Amazon? Yeah, I did, too. Then I saw the price tag. Yikes! But cedar garden beds don’t have to be outrageously expensive and you don’t even need a full set of tools. I’m here to give you pointers and tips for an easy DIY garden bed that won’t break the bank, either.
You’ve seen the simple garden beds I made the first year of my garden in it’s current location. In 2022, I expanded the veggie garden even more and really gave it an upgrade. Yes, I have some fancy tools, but you don’t need anything out of the ordinary to make your own garden beds. It’s a straightforward process to make these easy DIY garden beds, and I know you can do it, too!
The best thing about doing it yourself? You can customize it into a one-of-a-kind piece that works for you and the space you have. Below you will find an example of an 18″ tall bed I helped a friend make with minimal tools and the 6″ high beds I built in my own garden. Let’s get started!
The basic supply list:
Cedar fence pickets
Garden stakes
Fasteners
Cedar fence picketsWood garden stake
Cedar Fence Pickets
Head down to the home center and pick up some basic cedar dog-ear fence pickets. They are cedar and usually less than $3. They come in 6-foot lengths, which is great for a bed. It’s the cornerstone of this easy DIY garden bed and the piece that is often the most expensive in those kits.
So why cedar? For decades, vegetable gardeners have avoided pressure-treated wood products when building their beds, thanks to a 1991 paper from Cornell (the agricultural experts!). It brought to light the use of arsenic in the pressure-treating process. By the early 2000s, the manufacturing process changed and arsenic is no longer used. So is it safe to use? The risk is significantly diminished since then, but cedar is a fantastic, natural alternative. Cedar is rot-resistant and keeps bugs away.
Personally, try to avoid using any kind of pressure-treated wood in a vegetable garden. If it’s for flowers only, then I do recommend opting for pressure treated boards.
Garden stakes
In my previous post, I recommend some garden stakes like these 1×2 stakes. I also like these 2×2 stakes, which I used because my garden is on a hill and the soil is sand. I didn’t want them to move at all!
Garden stakes like these are great because they come in multi-packs. The length you need will be dependent on how tall you want your beds. Technically speaking, you don’t need to make them very tall, but, the beauty of a custom build is a custom design. I believe, for the most part, the garden stakes commonly available are untreated. If you can get your hands on cedar stakes, awesome. It’s possible you might have to replace the stakes at some point if you purchase the untreated stakes, but certainly not by the next year.
Fasteners
First of all, what are fasteners? It’s an all-encompassing word for things that fasten to or fasten things together – aka nails and screws.
As you will see in the next section, the type of fasteners you buy will depend on the type of tools you have access to. One thing that you do need, regardless of tool, is galvanized fasteners. These are designed to be used outside and in all weather. Screws are not the most ideal for this type of board, as it is quite thin and brittle, but it will work if you do nbot have access to a nailgun.
Below I have a couple of examples of ways to build your beds; regardless of your final design, the basic concept remains the same.
Galvenized brad nailsExterior screws
Before You Start:
Safety First
As always, take appropriate safety precautions. Gloves, glasses, and ear protection (with power tools) is a must. Take the time to scope out where you want your bed to live.
Recommendations
It’s very likely that the spot is not 100% flat so using a level is key to really making the beds look nice.
Having a garden shovel or trowel is a great tool to have on hand to help find level.
A mallet or heavy hammer will help make driving the stakes into the ground go by much faster.
If you do not have a saw at home, most home centers and lumber yards will gladly make cuts for you for free.
Measuring tape – you can attempt to eyeball it, but you might end up re-doing a lot of your work. Trust me, I know.
A second pair of hands! Many hands make light work and if you can find a friend to help it will make finding level a lot easier. BUT it’s absolutely possible to do this on your own.
Don’t be intimidated! This is an easy DIY garden bed and once you get the first board set up, you will fly through it. Take your time and if you mess up, then your garden will look like mine! A little wonky but totally authentic and made from my two hands.
Choose Your Adventure
If you don’t have a lot of tools:
Supplies:
Galvanized screws
Garden stakes
Fence pickets
Screwdriver or drill
Hammer or mallet
Level (optional)
Speed square (optional)
Saw (optional) – any kind will do if you have it
Step 1
Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.
Measuring up the depth of the stake
Step 2
Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.
Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!
Getting ready to check for square
If not, you can make an easy adjustment by moving around the garden stake that is not completely hammered into the ground yet. Once you know you’ve got your stakes lined up, sink that sake into the ground exactly as you did in Step 1.
Step 3
Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.
Leveling with the level
This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.
Step 4
If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.
In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.
The top of the stake is at or slightly below the top of the board
Step 5
When fastening, use 2 screws, one above the other. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute.
Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Slowly, screw in your first fastener; ideally the top one first. Try to avoid getting too close to the edge of your board in order to avoid splitting it entirely. Going slowly allows you some control but also helps to prevent massive splitting of the dry board. Typically, this is why brad nails are the better option, but not everyone has access to a nail gun.
Start with the top screw; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.
Apply the top fastener first to create the hinge.
Step 6
After fastening the first screw, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can fasten both screws on this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.
Step 7
Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve build this easy DIY garden bed!
View from the insideRemember to screw these in, too!View from the outside
If you’ve got access to a lot of tools:
Supplies:
Galvanized screws/brad nails
Garden stakes
Fence pickets
Drill or nail gun
Hammer or mallet
Level
Speed square
Circular saw
Step 1
Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.
Measuring up the depth of the stake
Step 2
Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.
Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!
Getting ready to check for squareNice and snug
Step 3
Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.
Leveling with the level
This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.
Step 4
If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.
In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.
Slightly above the top boardSlightly below the top board
Step 5
Regardless if you are using brad nails or screws, plan to use at least 2 per either end of each board, stacked vertically. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute. With any project using thin, brittle board and screws, be sure to go slowly and don’t place your screw too close to the edge, in order to avoid as much splitting as possible.
Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Start at the top of your board and place your first nail; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.
Top fastener firstApplying them vertically
Step 6
After applying your first fastener, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can apply additional nails to this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.
Step 7
Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve built this easy DIY garden bed.
View from the insideRemember to screw these in, too!View from the outside
If you’re feeling creative and are looking for inspo:
I can’t believe it is almost time for sugaring season. My husband is the one who grew up in the US’s #1 maple syrup producing state (i.e., Vermont) and he did some sugaring on his own as a kid. But once we purchased our home nearly a decade ago, we always intended to tap the meager 2 sugar maples on our property. It didn’t actually happen until 2021, when our daughter was old enough to participate. It started off as just something fun and science-y to show her, but it turned into a great little hobby for both of us. I’m so excited to tap for the second year and take what we learned the first time around into this year.
Modern plastic sap bucket, traditional metal sap bucket, and traditional metal taps
Getting Ready
Like I said, I didn’t grow up sugaring and my husband picked it up when he was in high school as a hobby (despite living on a ton of acres, it wasn’t something his parents did before he started). I got to experience my first sugaring when I went to visit him during a college spring break week some March many, many years ago. Little did I know, it was peak sugaring season. He spent that week boiling outside from sun-up to sun-down and then a little longer indoors after dark.
I learned that they boiled in March because the days were “warm” (think above freezing to mid-40s F) and the nights were “cold” (below freezing). This got the sap running. You knew it was sugaring season by looking at the snow around the base of the tree; if it started to pull away from the trunk, it was time to get those taps in and boil. As we all know, the climate is changing and winters aren’t quite so predictable as they once were. We also live a little bit further south of where he grew up, plus we are not at the same altitude and we are river-valley adjacent. That means our winters can be more variable in temperature. Not something we really paid attention to until it was our first sugaring season!
Our First Season
In 2021, we just went by the rule of thumb that we knew from sugaring in Vermont. Come March, it’s time to boil, so we didn’t put our taps in until the beginning of March. That was our first mistake. Whether it’s the changing climate or our geography (likely a combination of both!), we were already behind the 8 ball by the time we got started.
As is typical in the Capital Region of New York, we experience a bit of a deep freeze at the end of January/beginning of February followed by a bit of a thaw. This time of year is also very tumultuous and can result in quite a few Nor’easters. But it can also mean that sugaring could start in February. By the time we drilled our first taps, we had already seen a few of those warm days/cold nights that indicate sugaring season is upon us.
We did well for our first year – just shy of a gallon of sap from only 2 trees – but we probably could have had more if we drilled at the start of February. Ultimately, we probably had about 10-14 days of sugaring before the nights stopped dipping below freezing on a daily basis.
Take Two
This year, we made a point to start as early as we could in February. After a ridiculously cold stretch where the worst day saw a high of 11 degrees, we pulled out the buckets and tapped the trees the first day above 32 degrees F – February 5th!
Now this is far from a how-to post on sugaring. I’m certainly no expert, but I do highly recommend getting a sugaring book if you want to give it a go yourself. We use the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual by the Ohio State University Extension in Cooperation with the North American Maple Syrup Council. I have no idea where this book came from, but a quick Google search showed me that there are lots of options out there and I’m sure your local library can also help!
Getting Started
Last year, we ended up with more taps than buckets; my father-in-law had procured these buckets in late spring 2021 and this was the random assortment that he had obtained. We purchased a fourth bucket from Leader Evaporator Company. Tapping the trees is a fun activity for kids, so we also invited the neighbor kids down to use the power drill and hammer to hang the buckets. They have all claimed their buckets and regularly debate whose bucket is producing more.
That Escalated Quickly!
Looking ahead at the weather on tapping day, I knew we would probably start to see some sap, but I expected boiling wouldn’t happen until either the following weekend or even the one after that. Yikes was I wrong! It was the perfect sugaring weather. Even when it was cloudy, the days were above freezing and definitely below at night. On Wednesday, it was particularly sunny and around 40 degrees. I had a sneaking suspicion that the trees would be producing well that day, especially our big tree with the two taps.
That’s a lot of sap coming out
By 2pm that day I had at least a gallon in each of those two buckets and a bit less in the third – I didn’t check on the random other maple we tapped this year. Sure enough, I had 2.5 gallons. Normally I wouldn’t think we’d need to boil right away. The storage bucket is a 5 gallon one from Home Depot and we stuff it in the snow in a shady part of the lawn to act as an outdoor refrigerator during the week. The problem? There was rain forecasted for Thursday and the day and night temps were expected to stay in the 40s. My natural refrigerator was going to melt and if I didn’t boil, I was also going to have more than 5 gallons of sap on my hands with nowhere to put it.
Here We Go
I can now say it is the start of our sugaring season. I had plans to host a maple open house-type day with our friends in late March, but at this rate we will be done by then. I was so unprepared, I had to use the propane from our grill and I used some large 16″ tiles to create a wind buffer because it was also quite windy.
My thrown together boiling situation
That rolling boil
Some fancy grade A
As you can see, my thrown together boiler worked out just fine but I do want to put together something that blocks the wind a bit better. I started out with my sap in a turkey roasting pan, to get as much surface area exposed for evaporation.
After I went through the entire bucket of sap, I then reduced down to a large canning pot where I sat and watched (essentially) water boil for another hour. Now, it’s been a year and I forgot how the sap can stall out temperature-wise right before it turns to syrup. So I made the mistake of bringing it into the house to finish at around 215 degrees Fahrenheit. It boiled indoors for another HOUR. You might think, at least you were inside. But the steam that comes off of the pot has sugar in in it and I was not interested in coating the kitchen in a thin layer of maple syrup.
I was also hoping to use the hydrometer to determine when the sap had finally become syrup, but we didn’t have the skinny cup to actually use the hydrometer. I quickly placed an order for one, but we were going to have to rely on the thermometer for this one. In the end, we were able to boil down 2.5 gallons to just shy of a pint. Got some lovely sugar sand in there, too. This is just some crystallization from the boiling process. While we do filter the syrup at a couple of different stages, it just happens sometimes. While aesthetically not desirable when selling commercially, we aren’t fussy and we will still enjoy this tasty Vermont gravy.
End of season update
It was a very successful sugaring season for us this year, with nearly 40 gallons of sap boiled down to a gallon of syrup. I love how the color of the syrup darkens as the season goes on, making a lovely little maple syrup rainbow on our storage shelf. I can’t wait for next season!
Looking to up your gardening game this summer? Cedar garden beds are the way to go – and they can be easy to create and pretty affordable. Step away from the fancy kit and build your own in a day – for a lot less. Let’s DIY a garden bed!
Watch out for surprise roots!
Our backyard is a pretty steep hill. But it’s also the sunniest spot in the summer and our veggies grow best up there. I discovered this by accident last summer when a mystery squash started growing like crazy on the hill. I already planted some potatoes and carrots before I had the idea to build a terraced cedar garden bed into the hill.
Supplies
Head over to your local home store and pick up some cedar fence pickets. There is a reason why people use cedar for fences – they are durable, last a long time, and are rot-resistant. Thus making them ideal for garden beds.
Grab some wooden garden stakes while you are there, too.
In terms of tools, you’ll need a shovel, mallet, circular saw, tape measure, level, and nail gun (or any tool that can join two pieces of wood, e.g, screwdriver, drill, or hammer)
Prep
I wasn’t looking to make anything particularly fancy. It was a Sunday morning and I had a lot of other jobs to do. Cedar fence pickets are ideal also because they come in 6 foot lengths. That seemed like a reasonable width to my garden bed.
I started out by deciding where my very first board would go. Keeping things simple, I went with a 3 foot depth for the beds. Gearing up to dig, I measured out 3 feet up hill and started digging until I was close to level with my starting point. Once I had dug out most of the soil, I started to check for level. I wasn’t looking for a perfect level, but I also didn’t want to have any major sloping.
Then, I repeated this step for the next tier until I had a rough area to work in. Next, I stacked two boards and checked to make sure they lined up with the next tier. This became the rear retaining wall of the bed.
Build
Here’s where I started to work with the wood. I took the two retaining wall boards and placed them on my work surface. Using the nail gun, I affixed two garden stakes to the back of the boards. This was to join them together and give the wall something to grab the earth below it.
The back retaining wall
I then proceeded to hammer them into the ground and checked for level.
Love it when it finally levels.
It was a quick job to measure out the halfway mark on the board to cut the sides of the bed. For the sides of the beds, I only used one row of boards. I cut the additional garden stakes down into shorter lengths and nailed one to each end of the 3 foot board.
When I installed the 3 foot boards, I hammered them level and then nailed the front board to the garden stake that was already nailed to the 3 foot board.
This adds stability and keeps everything together.
And just like that I had made two tiered garden beds before lunch! Make sure that you line the bottom with weed barrier and bring in some compost and soil for your beds. Enjoy your beautiful garden and impress your friends with a DIY garden bed.
Just about finished
Because I use our own compost, I will be letting this bed do it’s own thing this season. I am sure some mystery plants will pop up!
Ever since I was a kid, I make a point to plant a tree on Earth Day. This year, my order of trees and shrubs from the Albany County Soil and Water Conservation District wasn’t ready until the day after.
We live on an acre of land with a lot of older trees that are planted in soil, so they are big and they are leaning. Slowly we have to take them down before they fall down (and we’ve had that happen a few times over the past 6 years).
BUT! we never cut down a tree before making a point of planting or replanting multiple trees. I am really excited about this year’s haul!
Let’s get started!
We’ve got 2 types of cherry, 2 apples, 5 sugar maples, lilacs, and elderberry. The ACSWCD makes a point of selling seedlings, saplings, and bulbs that are all native to the area and are designed to help the immediate area, not just to serve as decoration.
Quite the haul!
I got straight to work planting them, as I didn’t want to have them sitting around any longer than necessary. It’s important to take a moment and plan out where you want your new plants; keep in mind some of them require certain spacing in between (e.g., elderberry needs good airflow) or specifically near other similar species (e.g., the fruit trees in order to promote pollination and fruit production).
We chose the elderberry to provide some privacy, especially in the winter when our Autumn Olive shrubs drop their leaves. And since we got rid of the ugly chain link fence last year, this is a necessity.
The elderberry is hard to see right now, but it’s the plant that looks like a skinny stick coming out of the ground.
Right now you can see straight up the hill to the road.Last year’s small Arbor Vitae and a Sugar Maple.
Spacing in general is an important concept, especially with shrubs like Arbor Vitae – it may be tempting to plant them close together, but remember, they will grow and fill out. Overcrowding will make pruning more challenging and might actually cause “bald” spots.
Lilacs spaced out to ensure plenty of room as they grown and mature.
As always, make sure you are watering daily and deeply to encourage wide and deep root growth. Good luck and happy planting!
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