Gather the family around this infographic and show them how to stop a conflict from getting out of hand. You will be more peaceful than ever!
How to Engage and Resolve Family Conflicts in 5 Steps
Fall & Winter Gardening 101: Keeping it Alive Through the Cold Seasons
It won’t be long before you start feeling that crisp chill in the air, signaling that fall has arrived once again! For us, that means warm desserts, comforting nights wrapped in a blanket, and pumpkin spice in everything. It also means a lot of work for people who love their garden, and it’s essential that if you are one of them, you remember these chores to get it ready for fall (and then winter).
We’ll give you three fall garden care tips and two for winter. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner trying to make your garden survive another season, or a consummate professional looking for a new perspective on things, this list will help you for sure!
Fall Tips
1. Prepare a new garden bed for spring
Garden soil care during fall is important, and it’s never too early to start thinking about the following spring and preparing a new garden bed before the cold season will bring you great results as soon as the weather is warm again. What you need to do is take laying down a thick cardboard/newspaper layer, topped off with a 5-inch thick layer of compost, then adding a layer of woodchip mulch of about 4 inches thick. The idea is letting this new bed stay sitting over the winter, so it’s ready to plant by spring.
While you can accomplish pretty much the same results applying only the mulch over the cardboard or newspaper, it’s better if you already have access to enough compost to add it to the new bed. The same goes for preparing raised beds for winter.
2. Pull out dead plants and remove diseased ones
Any plant that didn’t survive the season has to be removed, and while doing so might be sad considering you planted them only a few months ago, they can still be useful if you add them to your compost pile. It all goes back to the earth! Another critical step is to trim back your perennials that are dormant, cutting the dead stems if they still have green leaves.
On the other hand, you must remove all diseased plants from your garden before the disease can spread to other plants by overwintering, even if you think they won’t survive the cold. This is a common mistake of novice or amateur gardeners, so now you know how to avoid it! Dispose of them by burning or taking them to a landfill in a bag, because composting them might cause the disease to be passed back into your garden.
3. Protect young trees from wind and critters
Fall and winter are seasons full of dangers for recently planted young trees. Fall brings along fast winds that can knock your sapling back and forth and thus break their roots, so it’s a good idea to tie them to a strong stake firmly planted in the ground. If you’re going to use wire to tie your tree, remember to cover the wire with pieces from an old hose to prevent it from cutting into the bark.
Speaking of barks; the colder seasons also bring some critters that love to munch on the bark of your trees, like the rabbit, so using some vinyl tree wrap around your sapling will protect it from them. You can also use a special breathable fabric if you want the tree to heal an already existing wound.
Winter Tips
If you did all your fall preparations right, that means there isn’t much to do in the garden, plant-wise. However, there are a couple of things you can take care of in the meantime.
1. Repair your garden structures
The reduced foliage and trimmed shrubs mean that you now have more moving space to do some maintenance work on your tool shed, greenhouse, fences, and summer house if you have them. It’s the time to repair or replace damaged timber, or parts that are suffering from pest infestations or weather damage. That way they’ll look gorgeous once the sun shines again when spring arrives. If you have a summerhouse, you can have it cleaned as well.
2. Clean and store your gardening tools
While some of them, like clippers, are always useful to have at hand, you won’t have too much use for the rest until the next gardening season. If you already finished preparing for autumn, this an excellent time to clean, treat, and store all your tools in the shed, covering them to prevent humidity do some damage. Making some racks to hold them is also a good idea if you don’t have a proper space for each one in the shed to avoid cluttering.
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Watching a series with the family is cool, but don’t let that be your only bonding experience. These five awesome hobbies will make your bonds much stronger!
10 Non-Halloween Fall Decoration Ideas For Your House
It’s easy to associate all fall decorations with the commercial gargantuan that is Halloween, but they don’t have to be the same. It doesn’t help that some autumn decorations can be a little kitsch, especially if they’re trying to be really eye-catching or to incorporate too many natural elements. Well, colors and the bounties of nature do have a place in our tips, but in a tasteful manner.
None of these decorations ideas are too complex, and all of them can be expanded upon as you see fit. Not only that, but you can also mix and match some of the elements to get the best results all around the house.
1. Autumn-Colored Velvet Accents
Velvet is an excellent option for autumn because of its soft texture and warmth. In keeping with the season, you can opt for an orange or brownish-yellow accent for your living room, such as throw pillows, blankets, ottomans, and even a full sofa upholstered in these colors.
2. Cozy Blankets as Decorations
Fall can be quite chilly, and blankets with interesting designs or tartan blankets draped over a dinner table can give your room a warm, inviting look to it. If you want to drive it even further, don’t forget to also change your table centerpieces so they also reflect the season.
3. Orange and White Flowers
Every season has a slew of floral arrangements to match it and autumn is definitely orange and white. You can try creating arrangements for your centerpiece or as an accent in your living room with large white flowers and orange small ones. Or, you can create arrangements where the colors are separated, with big blooming orange flowers in the center surrounded by smaller vases full of white ones.
4. Feathers and Pinecones
If you want to add an extra layer to your floral arrangements, mix in some pheasant or similar feathers inside of the vase, some pine cones on the outside (you can paint them gold as well), and even some white decorative pumpkins. This works perfectly as a centerpiece for your dinner table or for the living room.
5. Autumn Foliage Wreath
An entryway wreath is a fall tradition, but it doesn’t have to be bright orange or Halloween-themed at all. You can make an eye-catching wreath using dramatic elements such as shaggy vegetation, blackberries, fethers, and long blades of grass. This will make an untrimmed, thicker-looking wreath that will stun all visitors.
6. Entryway Corn Stalks
Here are a couple of fall decorations ideas for the outside. Instead of using a wreath, you can decorate your entryway by adding a dry cornstalk on both sides of the entrance door, giving you a more dramatic feeling every time you enter or leave the house. A nice way to compliment this decoration is with a couple of plain pumpkins near the entryway, adding more color and “life” to the arrangement while staying seasonal.
7. Caramel Accents in your Kitchen
Adding some caramel-colored accents to your kitchen will give it a cozy feeling and extra warmth during the season. Not only is the color similar to the treats that are common during fall, but it might also inspire you to grab your utensils and make some dessert of your own!
8. Wheat Sheaves and Sprays
Fall is widely known as the harvest season and few things reflect that style as good as wheat sheaves. You can make little bundles out of them and create an arrangement over your dinner or living room table. You can also use longer sheaves or sprays and decorate your entryway, adding them to your wreath for example.
9. Get a Plaid Blanket for your Bed
Nothing says country-cozy like a big plaid blanket covering your bed! Get one in red, orange, and yellow hues to drop a warmth bomb over your whole room, and you can complement that feeling with a few plaid or tartan throw pillows. You can also use this to decorate the couch if you don’t want to decorate your bedroom.
10. Overflowing Fruit Displays
Fall is a bountiful season, so why not display your delicious finds in an overfilled basket or bowl? Place it in your kitchen and try to include many different fruits or foods so the whole color palette of autumn is in full display. Apples, flowers, wheat, squash, small pumpkins, and flowers are all perfect for this.
There you have them! If you want to use any of these DIY fall decorating ideas, remember that you can riff on them any way you want to, like changing the colors a bit or using materials that are more easily available to you.
Save Money On Your Family Vacation With These 4 Awesome Tips
It’s time to get serious about relaxing. If you really want to go on a big vacation with the whole family, then it’s time that you all start saving money with our 4 wonderful tips.
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