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Have you thought about growing trees indoors? Some, including the Meyer lemon tree, make excellent houseplants! I’m fascinated by the story of the Meyer lemon, a hybrid citrus tree that produces lemons that are larger, sweeter and thinner skinned than the lemons you find in the grocery store. Its story includes everything from the adventures of the plant hunter, Frank N. Meyer, who found the original tree in China in 1908, to its adoration by chefs and kitchen trendsetters in the early 21st century....

Shoveling snow can really be a pain. In fact, shoveling snow can cause a heart attack. Even if you use a snowblower to clear your driveway and sidewalks, you may still want to find an alternative, like using ice melters. While that may seem like an easy answer to the problem, it’s actually affecting your concrete in a serious way. According to the Michigan Concrete Association, ice melters or rock salt can cause damage to concrete—particularly new concrete....

Family Handyman Choosing Siding: A Defining Moment When you choose siding for your second home, don’t rush or assume one type is best. It’s an expensive investment that can run up to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the material and its installation cost. On This Page The siding you choose should meet your needs and priorities, not just in appearance and cost, but also performance and maintenance. Choose well, and your vacation home will blend with its surroundings, maintain its architectural integrity and be protected from all that nature throws its way....

How to Jump Start a Car Carrying a set of jumper cables and knowing how to use them lets you help out a fellow motorist in need — or the other way around. Jump starting a car is usually simple, but it’s serious business — you have to do it right to do it safely. Every year people are seriously injured attempting to “jump” another vehicle. Before you connect the cables, go through this safety checklist:...

Elena Isida/ Shutterstock Flower bed stones add a finishing touch to your landscape. Whether you stack them for a border wall or use them for an insect-proof mulch, stones serve a variety of purposes that are both natural and attractive. Flower Bed Edging Stones Show off your flowers by elevating them in a raised flower bed. Natural stone is used as a retaining wall that creates a stunning, attractive border. You can build raised beds in a weekend with a few supplies and muscle....

With every era in remodeling, new styles and trends come to light. At the moment, nearly every kitchen remodel I see has a stylish accent wall and a stunning custom-made range hood. If you’re contemplating a kitchen remodel yourself, don’t like the looks of store-bought range hoods yet lack the tools and know-how to build one from scratch, don’t sweat it. Archways & Ceilings has your back. Who Are Archways & Ceilings?...

Attapon Thana/Shutterstock Drum brakes were the standard method of stopping a car until disc brakes began to supplant them a few decades ago. Disc brakes have more braking force and therefore are regarded as safer. Today, drum brakes are still found on many new cars, usually economy models and almost exclusively on the rear wheels. Equipped with disc brakes, front wheels do most of the hard work in day-to-day braking....

A popular snack for grazing chickens (hence the name), henbit is found throughout the U.S., and it adds a dash of springtime color with its small purple blossoms. These seemingly innocent flowers, however, can spell trouble for your lawn. If you notice a proliferation of plants sprouting multiple square green-to-purple stems from a single taproot, and sporting pairs of heart-shaped, scallop-edged leaves and light purple flowers, say hello to henbit. Here’s what to do to keep an invasion in check....

Having a bathroom exhaust fan helps keep that space odor-free. While that perk is important for people using the loo, it’s eclipsed by the good things an exhaust fan does for the bathroom itself. It ventilates the space and dries out the air, the importance of which can’t be overstated. When moist air lingers, it makes paint peel, promotes mold growth and rusts metal fixtures. It can even damage wall and ceiling framing....

Did you know that your lawn can benefit from a good spring cleaning just like your home? While an indoor deep cleaning removes dust and dirt from ceiling lamps to baseboards, an outdoor “deep cleaning” focuses on eliminating thatch buildup that may be depriving your lawn’s root system of the water, air and nutrients it needs to stay lush and robust. “Thatch is defined as a tightly intermingled layer of both living and dead plant tissue that exists above the surface of the soil and below the verdure (the green part of the lawn),” explains agronomist and lawn care expert Bob Mann, director of state and local government relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals....

Looking to bring a little holiday magic to your living room or backyard during the darkest days of the year? Search no further. Color Changing Pinecones are sure to become a favorite family tradition. Add them to your wood burning fireplace or fire pit and watch the colorful flames add instant cheer. If we didn’t know any better, we’d guess Santa might have left a little magic behind on his way back up the chimney....

There are plenty of stubborn broadleaf weeds that test the patience of anyone working hard to maintain a lovely lawn, but none are more frustrating than Canada thistle. It’s like that last dinner party guest who won’t leave. Here is what you need to know about this tenacious weed. What Is Canada Thistle? Canada thistle is an invasive perennial weed that almost always grows in patches. The stems and deeply lobed leaves are smooth to the touch, but those leaves come with prickly, painful spines around their margins....

ablokhin/Getty Images After normalizing slightly at the end of 2020, lumber prices steadily climbed back up throughout the first weeks of 2021 and hit record highs in early February. This on-going surge in the cost of lumber and other construction materials has become a major issue for contractors and home buyers, complicating home building across the U.S. and harming housing affordability at a time of historic demand. “According to Random Lengths, the price of lumber hit a record high this week and is up more than 170 percent over the past 10 months,” said Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a custom home builder from Florida....

If you’ve ever shopped for a cordless power tool, you’ve no doubt seen advertisements touting brushless motors. So, just what is a brushless motor, and is it worth the added price? Brushed direct current (DC) motors are the older technology, in use since the 19th century. The first brushless DC motor didn’t come along until 1962. Originally prohibitively expensive, brushless motor technology has finally come within reach of a DIYer’s budget....

Suppose you have four pieces of 1×2 lumber, two of one length and two of another, and you want to turn them into a picture frame. The simplest way to do it would be to spread glue on the ends of the two shorter pieces, press the sides of the longer pieces into the glue and hold the structure together with clamps until the glue sets. You’d be making butt joints, the simplest of all wood joints because they require no cutting and no tools or materials other than glue and clamps....

Autumn is upon us and winter is just around the corner. Unless you’re a professional Alpine skier, it’s likely you’ll be spending more time inside your home with the doors and windows closed in the coming months. In light of the pandemic, are you concerned about your indoor air quality? And should you be? Let’s look at some of the latest thinking on residential indoor air quality, how it relates to COVID-19, and some steps you can take to improve air quality in your home....

Wendy Kaveney Photography/shutterstock Anyone who owns a home eventually faces the inevitable: A dried, cracked or flaky caulk seal. These can appear nearly anywhere in your home, inside or out. Of course, the number one pitfall is never using caulk around your home. Caulk eventually fails and that means water getting where it shouldn’t causing expensive damage) or energy loss (also expensive) because air can move freely in and out of your home....

Even if you have the know-how, you might not have the time to tackle every home repair project that comes up. And let’s face it, from leaky faucets to broken dishwashers and beyond, they will come up. This is where a qualified handyman comes in — a good one can save you time, money and a lot of trouble. Of course, hiring the right handyman is key. The first step in this endeavor is to verify that they know what they’re doing!...

Our Content FH is a trusted source for DIY home improvement information and advice. We cover topics including home maintenance and repairs, painting, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, pest control, tool and appliance selection, organizing, cleaning, décor, automotive, gardening, lawn care, outdoor living and more. We have a variety of content dedicated to construction pros, as well. Our Content Creators Some of our contributors are subject matter pros. Others are excellent researchers and interviewers who track down pros to inform their words....

My wife is the gardener. I’m the grunt who digs the dirt. But gardening grows on me, and now I know not to use the word “dirt.” “We refer to it as soil, because dirt is a four-letter word,” says Tony Provin, Ph.D., a professor and soil chemist at Texas A&M Agrilife Extension in College Station. “Of course, so is soil, but …” Not all soil is the same, and there’s a difference between garden soil and potting soil....