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Tossing them in the trash bin is one option, though not very eco-friendly. Composting is a better choice. Or you could give the pumpkin a new purpose and make an animal very happy. Here are four ways to reuse your pumpkins. Offer It to the Birds The feathered friends that flock to your yard would be thrilled with a little pumpkin snack. Scrape out the flesh and seeds and put them in a dish or bird feeder....

When decorating your living room, it pays to plan. If you would like to avoid an ugly living room, then avoid making these living room decorating mistakes. Paint Too Soon This is the number one decorating mistake when designing a living room. Paint should be one of the last things you consider. Furnishings should come first. It is much easier to match paint to your couch than vice versa....

Types of Home Repair Contractors When you need repair work done on your home, you will usually hire a specialty type of tradesman called a “subcontractor” which is different than a general contractor (GC) or builder. A general contractor or builder is a company that will construct a major renovation project or build a new home and hires all the individual specialty subcontractors. The GC is the overall coordinator of a larger project and typically does not provide the labor to build the house....

Two of the biggest issues with installing sheet vinyl are cutting it precisely to fit around obstructions and adhering it to the floor with glue. The first issue can be surmounted by constructing precisely cut templates from contractors’ paper and tape. As for the gluing, there is a way of installing sheet vinyl without glue and it is called perimeter-install. With this method, the vinyl is laid on the floor, much like any other floating floor....

Nutritional Value Milo seed (Sorghum bicolor) is a type of grass grain, also called sorghum, durra, or jowari. It comes in two varieties, white and red, and the red is a more common part of inexpensive birdseed mixes. The nutritional composition of milo is not impressive—it is primarily carbohydrates, and while that starch can be valuable, it is not as concentrated an energy source as fats or oils, and many birds have more difficulty digesting milo, which can lead to more feces....

Here we will focus on epiphytic tropical orchids. Most orchids grown in the home are epiphytes, meaning they live in nature by clinging to trees or even stones. The roots of these plants are highly specialized organs that differ dramatically from other plant roots. An orchid generally needs water once a week during the winter and twice a week when the weather turns warm and dry. An orchid shouldn’t go longer than two to three weeks without water; it will start dying....

Hummingbird season is different across the regions as weather patterns shift and bird migration periods are reliant on the climate and environmental factors. Take a look at some ways to determine the best time to put out your hummingbird feeders so no nectar gets wasted and hummingbirds are fed. Factors Affecting When the Hummingbird Season Starts While feeding birds can be a year-round joy, many hummingbirds are migratory. At certain times of year take down your feeder; when birds aren’t present....

Pre-project, I thought an interior designer mostly did what I do naturally when decorating a space, but with more resources. I never once thought it was an easy job, but I figured it was something anyone with a keen eye for design could probably hack. As I learned from our very first meeting with our interior designer, I was wildly wrong. Here were my discoveries while working with a designer—and why I’m so glad I did....

The main service panel is like the switchboard for all the electricity in the home. It receives the incoming power from the utility company and distributes it to each of the circuits that supply the various lights, outlets, appliances, and other devices throughout the house. Everything but the incoming utility power can be shut off and turned on at the main service panel. Behind the Panel Door A service panel is a steel box with a hinged door or lift-up panel on the front....

And that is why I’m so excited for In The Weeds with Plant People, a new video series on The Spruce that showcases some pretty amazing plant collections—and their loving parents. What to Expect in This Series In The Weeds with Plant People is an interview show featuring plants—and the people who adore them. It’s a sneak peek at how different people live with and care for plants day to day....

Benefits of Raking Leaves Raking leaves offer many benefits, both to you and to your property. The most important benefit of raking leaves is that it will help your grass grow. A thick layer of fallen leaves can deprive grass of sunlight, which gets in the way of the growth of some cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, which are revitalized in the fall. Cool-season lawn grasses are most active in moderately cool fall weather when they must “make hay” to strengthen their root systems....

Using Rubber Mulch in Gardening and Landscaping Rubber mulch (the type sometimes used in playgrounds) can be very appealing to certain types of gardeners. Like crushed stone, it’s long-lasting; unlike crushed stone, you can buy it in all sorts of wild colors, such as teal! But aesthetics aside, is this type of mulch suitable for use in the landscape? Is it safe to use around plants? I’m not a chemist, so I won’t attempt to provide you with a definitive answer on how safe rubber mulch is for plants (even less does this piece address the issue of whether the product is safe for use in playgrounds)....

The Kimberley queen fern is an indigenous Australian species. Its common name comes from the Kimberley region of Australia and the earl of Kimberley, who was the secretary of state for the British colonies in the 1800s. The preferred common name is sword fern. Furthermore, these plants don’t require regular pruning. However, removing any dead, damaged, or diseased fronds as they arise will help to encourage new and healthy growth....