About Tree Grove Care

Welcome to Tree Grove Care

You’ve got a patch of soil that refuses to yield, a plant that wilts despite your care, or a garden guide that speaks in terms you don’t recognize. Maybe you’ve spent hours online chasing answers—only to find advice that assumes you already know which end of a trowel to use.

This site is for the people who want plants to thrive without the guesswork.

Here, we strip gardening back to what actually works: the soil that holds moisture, the tools that don’t betray you, and the plants that reward effort with flowers, fruit, or just the quiet satisfaction of something growing where nothing did before.

Our story

The first time Hakeem Sizemore tried to grow tomatoes in rural Ohio, the plants produced fruit the size of marbles. The soil was heavy clay, the watering erratic, and the advice he found online assumed a backyard that didn’t exist where he was. That failure—small as it was—stuck with him.

Not because it went wrong, but because it could have gone right with the right information.

Years later, after moving to a different climate and learning which plants ignored drought, which mulches actually worked, and which ‘expert’ tips were just myths, he realized something was missing: a place that answered the questions gardeners *actually* had, not the ones they *should* have.

Most sites either treated gardening like a hobby for the already skilled or sold you seeds you’d never use.

The turning point came on a Saturday morning in 2021, at 7:17 a.m., when Hakeem was kneeling in a raised bed in his backyard, pruning back a overgrown rosemary bush. The shears slipped, and he nearly sliced his thumb.

That’s when he decided: if gardening advice couldn’t survive a real mistake, it wasn’t worth writing. Tree Grove Care started as a way to document what worked—not in perfect conditions, but in the messy, unpredictable world where most people garden.

What we stand for

We believe gardening should feel like progress, not a chore. That means no empty promises, no ‘tricks’ that require buying something, and no advice that changes every time the season does.

Meet the team

Behind Tree Grove Care is a small group of people who garden because they love it—not because they’re paid to. We’re not botanists with PhDs or influencers with sponsored posts.

We’re the kind of gardeners who’ve Googled ‘why is my basil turning yellow’ at 2 a.m. and still planted it the next day.

Hakeem Sizemore

Hakeem Sizemore is the founder and editor of Tree Grove Care, and his approach to gardening is shaped by the Ohio farmland where he spent his childhood. He runs the site from a small workshop attached to his backyard, where half-finished projects and potted herbs share shelf space.

His writing avoids the language of gardening magazines, opting instead for the blunt terms he’d use while troubleshooting a failed crop with a neighbor.

Before Tree Grove Care, Hakeem worked in urban agriculture, where he learned that the biggest obstacle to growing food isn’t pests or weather—it’s advice that doesn’t match reality. He still makes the same mistake every spring: overwatering seedlings because he forgets they’ve already absorbed moisture from the seedling tray.

His desk is a cluttered mix of a notebook filled with soil pH readings, a pair of well-worn pruning shears, and a half-empty mug of coffee that’s been there since morning.

How we create our content

Every piece on Tree Grove Care starts with a question someone actually asked—or a problem someone actually had. It’s not ‘what should I grow in Zone 7?’ but ‘my tomatoes keep cracking open, and I’ve tried everything.’ We dig into the *why* behind the failure before suggesting a fix.

The first cut: research and testing

Before we write a single word, we test every claim, tool, or technique in real conditions. That means planting seeds in the same soil we’d recommend, using the same watering schedule a beginner would, and noting where things go wrong—because that’s where the useful advice lives.

If a mulch claim works in a lab but not in a backyard with squirrels, we’ll say so.

We spend at least two growing seasons on major guides. The first year is about seeing what fails; the second is about refining it. For example, our ‘Best Low-Maintenance Perennials’ guide started with a list of 15 plants Hakeem thought would thrive in his climate.

By the end of the first summer, only seven survived without constant attention—and the ones that did were the ones we ended up recommending.

The second cut: editing for reality

After testing, we edit for the things that don’t get said often enough. That’s the ‘but here’s what actually happens’ part of every guide. If a plant needs full sun but your yard is shady, we’ll tell you how to cheat the system.

If a tool is overrated, we’ll say so. And if a method works but only in specific conditions, we’ll break it down so you know when to use it—and when to skip it.

The final draft always includes a ‘What Could Go Wrong’ section, because the best gardening advice isn’t just about success—it’s about knowing what to do when things go sideways. (Spoiler: It’s usually not buying more fertilizer.)

Join our community

This site exists because gardening is better when you’re not figuring it out alone.

Here, you’ll find answers to questions like *‘Why is my soil still compacted after I tilled it?’* or *‘How do I save a plant that’s been underwatered for a week?’*—and you’ll also see what others have tried when the same problem cropped up.

Good suggestions get added to our guides, and the ones that don’t work? We’ll tell you that too.

Let's connect

We love hearing about the plants that surprised you, the tools that finally made sense, or the garden disasters that became lessons. If you’ve got a question that stumped you or a tip that worked where nothing else did, the contact page is where to share it.

And if you’re just here to admire someone else’s green thumb for a while? That’s fine too—we’re all learning, one season at a time.