Online Features
Lawn & Garden
Curb appeal tips to transform your home
(BPT) - Sprucing up your home’s curb appeal brings new energy and life, not only to your property, but also to the entire neighborhood. It creates a welcoming and appealing environment, while also making it a better candidate for resale, if that’s in your near future. Curb appeal improvements can range from giving your...
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Recycled plastics in the garden: It's all about the 'green'
Our lawns and gardens seem to be all about the “green.” We spend a lot of green on our lawns and gardens – nearly $30 billion a year. We grow a lot of greens – nearly a third of us grow food in our gardens. And many companies now make outdoor gardening products with recycled materials, such as plastics – which contribut...
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Looking for a greener way to clean your pool?
(BPT) - There’s no better way to enjoy the summer than by lounging by the pool. Unfortunately, this backyard family oasis requires regular maintenance throughout the summer that can include expensive and sometimes unhealthy chemicals. Have you ever wished there was an easier way you could clean your pool, that was also ...
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Get ready to enjoy your home's exterior beauty
(BPT) - It’s time to make your home’s exterior shine with some added summer curb appeal. You can quickly do the easy stuff – wash your windows, plant annuals, install pathway lights – to spruce things up. But you should also consider those projects you’ve been avoiding. * Is your wood deck cracked, gray and seen better...
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Five steps to create a customized outdoor living space with railing
(BPT) - Railing can upgrade any deck from drab to fab – adding style, as well as safety and support. In fact, it’s often the one element that truly sets your outdoor living space apart from others in the neighborhood. Here are five steps to create the perfect perimeter for your deck. 1. Find ideas at your fingertips – ...
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Tips for extending your home into your patio
(BPT) - In warmer weather, patios transform into the ultimate gathering space for backyard barbecues, reading, relaxing or even exercising. These outdoor rooms become an extension of the house, seamlessly merging the outdoors inside and vice versa. This summer, many homeowners will tackle revamping the home to expand t...
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Birdfeeder basics: Bring on backyard birds with the right feeders
(BPT) - When you dine, do you prefer clean and attractive tableware? Does ambiance enhance your enjoyment of your food? Birds feel the same way about their dining habits – the type and cleanliness of your bird feeders directly affects the number and species of birds that will visit your backyard this season. To attract...
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Backyard oasis planning made easy
(BPT) - Hooray for a holiday. You’ve got the day off, you’ve sent out the backyard barbecue invite and all your nearest and dearest are coming over to eat, drink and be merry. So, what’s next? Whether you’re a seasoned entertaining pro or a new host, The Home Depot has tips to make your backyard an oasis for a long hol...
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Surprising ways hot tubs heat up relationships
(BPT) - On average, working adults spend less than an hour per day socializing and relaxing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s American Time Use Survey . Yet a host of research – and common sense – tells us that spending time together in a social, relaxing way is essential to building and maintaining healthy...
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Cures for some of the most common plant and pest problems [Infographic]
Whether it’s as slow as a slug or as quick as the demise of an iron-deficient lawn, problems continue to invade landscapes season after season. Central Garden & Pet has uncovered homeowners’ most challenging outdoor dilemmas and developed high impact solutions for troubled lawns and gardens from New England to the Pacific Northwest – and every region in between. This season, find the cure for your plant and pest problems and watch as your blooms blossom, gardens thrive and landscapes becom...
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More beauty, less beast [Infographic]
This season, fairytales will come true as landscapes and gardens flourish, and pest and weeds become a distant memory. Pennington and Amdro know the benefits of having a healthy, weed-free landscape and pest-free home – but they also know that achieving these results can be challenging. This year, however, will be different. With the help of the Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System and the Amdro PowerFlex Pest & Weed System , homeowners can simplify indoor and outdoor chores and maintain ...
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Companion planting [Infographic]
Gardening using a companion planting technique is becoming a highly popular practice. Companion planting is the close planting of different plants that enhance each other’s growth or protect each other from pests. A higher crop yield, tastier harvests and less insect damage are all benefits of companion planting. This infographic , brought to you by Avant Garden Decor, home of Gardener’s Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening Supplies , shares with you the benefits of companion planting practice...
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By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The foreman of an Arizona jury that deadlocked over whether Jodi Arias should be put to death for murdering her ex-boyfriend believes she was mentally abused, but said on Friday that had not been enough to excuse her crime. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty this month of murdering Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face. ...
By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday voted overwhelmingly to allow residents to carry concealed guns, taking the state one step closer to joining all others in allowing some form of carrying guns in public. Illinois is the only state in the nation to ban most people from carrying a concealed gun outside the home. Lawmakers acted on Friday after a federal appeals court in January struck down the ban, saying it violated the right to bear arms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. ...