Today it’s all about green onions—a simple, low-maintenance crop to add to your garden. It grows wonderfully in traditional gardens, but it also does great in containers and even windowsill gardens. So if space is a concern, green onions can be a great choice!
I love that they are biennial plants, meaning they take two full years to complete their lifecycle. I can plant them in very early spring, and they’ll come back the next spring (in zone 7, that is) without me doing much of anything. So let’s talk about growing them.
Planting, light, & soil
Another reason I love green onions for beginners is that they make great candidates for direct sowing. That just means you plant them directly into the soil. You don’t need to start them indoors super early in the season and then transplant them.
The plant pictured below started as a seed in March 2024. This picture was taken in October 2024. While the plant died back a but in the summer due to extreme heat, it rebounded wonderfully in September once the temperatures began dropping a bit.
Green onions like full sun—so about 6 to 8 hours a day. They are happiest in a light, well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. I have my raised beds amended with plenty of leaf compost, and the plants have been thriving!
Caring for & digging up in early spring
Because green onions are biennial plants, that means they stay in the ground over the winter. They might look a little worse for the wear in the spring, though. So I just trim the dry, browning tops off of mine.
You don’t have to dig up your plants and split them in early spring, but you can. Green onions will multiply, so digging them up and splitting them will give you more plants! I dug up both of my green onions to see how many new plants I could get this spring.
Splitting green onion plants
To split my plants, I used my hori-hori knife to slice the green onions apart. I tried to make sure each section I cut off had roots attached to it. I ended up with eight different plants that I planted in a row. From two plants to eight plants…I love green onions!!
Rooting green onion cuttings
You can also root green onions in water. Just make sure that only the bottom of the cutting is in water. Once it develops roots, go ahead and plant it in your garden. Yes, it’s that easy 🙂
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Brittany is a seasoned DIY home and garden expert, running a creative brand since 2014 that inspires others with approachable plant care guides, woodworking tutorials, and decor projects. She is a certified project manager and has completed extensive coursework in the art and science of growing your own plants. Her work has been recognized by major publications, and she routinely collaborates with fellow DIY industry leaders—but her favorite thing to do is inspire you! Learn more about her here.
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