Yard and Garden

COMPOST

• How to compost: Reduce your trash bill and help the environment by composting food waste. It doesn't have to be complicated.

CRITTERS

• Cats: The yard can attract all kinds of critters, including wild cats. Here's how we tamed a cat called Penelope.
• Moles: Here are some suggestions for getting rid of these mound-makers. And here's what experts recommend.
• Rattlesnakes: The discovery of a Michigan rattler upends the garden -- and the entire yard.
• Squirrels: Try flour, cayenne pepper and garlic powder to keep these pests away.
• Woodchucks: Woodchucks love to devour the greens in your yard and garden. Here's how to recognize a woodchuck and what to do about it.
• More on woodchucks: The mystery of the "beaver with the fluffy tail" is solved! It's a groundhog -- or woodchuck, same thing.
• Even more on woodchucks: The mystery of the "beaver with the fluffy tail," which had resorted to violets.

DRIVEWAYS AND SIDEWALKS

• Concrete: Fill the potholes in your driveway or sidewalk with concrete. Here's how to choose which kind and how to do the job.
• Slippery steps and sidewalks: Keep your steps and sidewalks free of ice. Salt isn't your only option.

FALL

• Fall checklist: Here's a handy list of things you should do to get your home, yard and garden ready for winter.
• Fall chores: Here's a way to motivate yourself to get your home and yard ready for winter.
• Fall raking: The easiest and most effective methods for removing leaves from your yard.
• Gathering leaves: After a storm, try picking up the leaf debris with your own homemade leaf pokers!
• Leaf rakes: Need a new leaf rake? There's more to purchasing one than you might think. Here are the differences and how to find the right one.

GARDEN

• Growing season: Prolong your gardening season with these tips.
• Insect pests: Bugs driving you buggy? Try "twilight speed gardening," a fast way to work in the garden and avoid bald-faced hornets and other insects.
• Low-maintenance gardening: Try this low-maintenance alternative to square-foot gardening.
• Plants and flowers: If you're purchasing plants, here are some important things to know, from getting that perfect plant to doing something called "hardening off."
• Strawberries: If you hull them on the vine, you'll save lots of time in the kitchen. Learn this technique.
• Tomato wilt: Prevent the spread of this tomato-killing disease.
• Trellis: Build a natural trellis from thick, sturdy, artistically formed sassafras limbs -- no power tools necessary!

GRILLING

• Canning on your outdoor grill. Learn how to do your canning on your outdoor grill and save on your electric bill.
• Cleaning the grill: Don't throw that grimy grill away! Here's how to clean it from top to bottom!
• Grill won't light? One possible source of the problem could be the regulator, which controls the flow of gas from the LP tank to the burners.
• Salsa on the grill: Make delicious, homemade salsa on your outdoor grill.
• Shrimp tortellini: Make this delicious shrimp tortellini with grilled vegetables.
• Storing the grill: Should you store your grill for winter? Some use it year-round. But if you do store it, here's how to help keep it protected.
• Tenderloin dinner: Cook this complete, quality tenderloin meal -- including potatoes, corn on the cob (and toss in a salad) -- in under half an hour on your grill!

INSECTS, BEES AND WASPS

• Avoiding insects: Bugs driving you buggy? Try "twilight speed gardening," a fast way to work in the garden and avoid bald-faced hornets and other insects.
• Japanese beetles: Geraniums may be the key to eliminating these pests.
• More on Japanese beetles: Nematodes are microscopic, parasitic worms that travel deep into the soil, killing Japanese beetles and other harmful grubs. Here's how to get them into the ground and put them to work.
• Mosquitoes: How to keep the mosquitoes away from you -- and your yard and garden.
• Paper wasps: Here's how NOT to get rid of them.
• More on paper wasps: Here is how you CAN get rid of them.
• Even more on paper wasps: Fake nests can confuse wasps and send them packing.
• Spiders: The marbled orb weaver is the master of home improvement, repairing its home daily and rebuilding it several times a year. The colorful, intriguing spider eats wasps and other insect pests.

LAWN CARE

• Mowing: Mow the lawn in January? In Michigan?No kidding! You'll have to see it to believe it!
• More on mowing: There's no such thing as a "reel-to-reel" lawnmower.
• Yard, yardwork and mowing: How it becomes part of your family's heritage -- like it or not!

OUTDOOR FURNITURE

• Portable gazebo: How long does it take to store a gazebo in its original box? About eight weeks.
• More on portable gazebos: When to take down your portable gazebo, and what to do if you get caught in a rainstorm doing it.
• Save money! With patience and persistence, you can save a bundle on a gazebo, outdoor grill and outdoor furnishings!

SPRING

• Stormy weather: Sometimes it takes the pressure of an impending event -- like a storm -- to get spring chores done quickly. I call it the "Chicken Little" syndrome.

TREES

• Chainsaw: Conquering a tree with a chainsaw.
• Hydraulic cylinder: When it comes to many tasks -- including splitting wood -- there's nothing quite like the power and majesty of a hydraulic cylinder.

WINTER

• Ice dams: Eliminate and prevent ice dams on your roof.
• Leaf blower: Remove snow from your walkway with a leaf blower? It will work -- after a fashion.
• Shovel or snowblower? Which is preferable? And which is best and under what circumstances?
• Snow shovel/snowblower race: Which can clear the driveway faster -- a snow shovel or a snowblower? The race is on! Learn the surprising results!
• Slippery steps and sidewalks: Keep your steps and sidewalks free of ice. Salt isn't your only option.
• Snow on the roof: Keep wet, heavy snow from accumulating on your roof. Here are some ways to remove it.
• Snow shovels: Need a new snow shovel? There's more to purchasing one than you might think. Here are the differences and how to find the right one.

YARD SALE/GARAGE SALE

• Yard sale/garage sale: Planning a yard/garage sale? Include unusual items and plan carefully to ensure success.