The best smart thermostats make your life easier and more comfortable. Plus, you will save money and energy. It’s as simple as that. After all, you want your house to be cool on a sweltering summer day. You also want to be warm and cozy when the winter winds blow. The last thing you want to do is crawl out from under the covers to turn up the heat. Or, be forced to walk across a hot house to turn up the air conditioner. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a smart thermostat so you could adjust your home’s temperatures from your smart phone? That’s now an option—thanks to programmable smart thermostats. Here are some of the basic things to know before buying a smart thermostat. Keep reading for our guide to the best smart thermostats that includes reviews of the best Wi-Fi thermostats to buy now. What Is a Smart Thermostat? A smart thermostat connects to Wi-Fi and automatically adjusts the heating and cooling temperatures inside your house for optimal performance. You can … [Read more...] about A Guide to the Best Smart Thermostats
Tree Trimming Tips
Tree trimming is a regular part of maintaining a yard and garden. In this guide, we offer tree trimming tips that help keep trees healthy while giving your yard a professional look. Many people don’t realize that tree trimming is also a way to avoid hazards. That’s because overgrown trees can fall in high winds or even provide an obstacle for traffic. Editor’s Note: Trimming trees and pruning trees are two slightly different things. Pruning typically refers to removing dead or infected branches. Trimming is usually cutting back overgrown trees and plants. In this story, we cover primarily tree trimming. The Importance of Tree Trimming Doing a good job of trimming your trees is vital to the health of the trees. Overgrown trees can grow through electrical wires or other essential cables. Trees can fall during high winds, and this can cause damage to houses, cars and even injure people. Avoiding property damage and personal injury are reason enough to properly trim your … [Read more...] about Tree Trimming Tips
Make a Perfect Dried Flower Wreath from Your Old Bouquets
Making a dried flower wreath is an attractive way to repurpose old floral bouquets into something new and functional. Whether you use your wedding bouquet, an arrangement from another important occasion or cut flowers from your garden, your old flowers and this simple DIY project will unleash your creativity. Plus, we guarantee you will have fun! Here are some helpful tips so that you can make a perfect dried flower wreath from your old bouquets. Choose Your Dried Flower Wreath Florals Start by looking at your bouquet and determining which flowers and greenery are best for your project. You may decide that a few flowers have started to fall apart over time, and they aren't right for your display. If that's the case, work with what you have and choose the best-looking pieces for your wreath. Consider adding greenery or grasses to your arrangement to give the flowers a fuller, more inviting look. Pampas grass and dried flax are two popular options for dried flower … [Read more...] about Make a Perfect Dried Flower Wreath from Your Old Bouquets
Plants for Pollinators
Why should you grow plants for pollinators? For starters, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are colorful and interesting visitors to any garden. And without these pollinators and the plants that support them, there literally wouldn’t be gardens. Unfortunately, many of these winged jewels are in trouble. The populations of many species of butterflies, hummingbirds and bees are being threatened by shrinking natural habitats that provide them food and shelter. According to Kylee Baumle, author of The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved Butterfly, gardeners have a crucial role to play in pollinator health. Growing pollinator plants and creating pollinator gardens is vitally important in maintaining populations of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. What Does a Pollinator Garden Look Like? At first glance, a pollinator garden might look like a typical flower garden. It’s dominated by perennial plants that flower in a rainbow of colors. But a pollinator garden contains a … [Read more...] about Plants for Pollinators
5 Ways to Bring the Outdoors Indoors
How can you bring the outdoors indoors? How can you make nature a bigger part of your indoor decor? It’s not as difficult as you think. If you’re a big fan of nature, then you already know there’s something soothing about being outside. But being outdoors all the time just isn’t practical, such as when the weather is bad or you have a list of chores to do inside the house. That’s when being able to bring the outdoors indoors is wonderful. If you want to feel at one with nature without leaving your house, here’s how to get started. Tip 1 to Bring the Outdoors Indoors: Put Some Plants Inside the House Some people buy artificial plants for around the house but keep the real plants outside. But clearly, that’s old-school decorating. Houseplants are a booming trend. (Photos courtesy of Pexels) So, it’s time to bring some real plants inside. After all, plants are not only beautiful to look at, they can also purify the air, increase oxygen within the … [Read more...] about 5 Ways to Bring the Outdoors Indoors
