home gardening
5 Steps to Spruce Up Outdoor Spaces
(Family Features) When spring arrives, days of enjoying your outdoor living space aren’t far away. Getting your yard ready for months of outdoor enjoyment will take a little work, but you’ll quickly see and appreciate the results.
These five steps can have you on your way to a lush, healthy lawn and outdoor area in no time.
- Dethatch
Throughout the winter, dead grass and other debris accumulate on your lawn. This waste, known as thatch, can be quite a hindrance to your spring lawn. It promotes fungi, encourages pests and keeps new grass seed from sprouting. You can use a special dethatching rake or any rake with sturdy tines.
- Aerate
Before spreading grass seed, you’ll want to give the new roots room to spread and grow. Aerating the lawn helps make your soil more welcoming to new growth by allowing moisture, nutrients and air to sink deeper into the soil. Depending on the size of area you need to aerate, two of the easiest options are doing the job by hand or using an attachment on a riding lawn mower.
- Prune
The lawn isn’t the only place debris can pile up. Your flower beds and any other vegetation can become a holding ground for twigs, branches, leaves and other yard waste. Give your plants, shrubs and trees a close look to find broken, damaged or dead material and remove it to make way for new growth.
- Weed
Even the healthiest lawns are susceptible to weeds, but getting a jump start on weeding early in the season can help you keep control. You can manage weeds by treating with an herbicide before the sprout or, if you prefer, there are chemical-free alternatives like vinegar, salt or cornmeal. Be aware that many alternative products don’t distinguish between the vegetation you want (like grass) and weeds, so these remedies are best used along borders and within beds to discourage weed growth.
- Seed
Winter weather and wear can cause uneven patches in the lawn. Seeding in the spring requires more work than the fall (especially if you tend to have hot, dry summers), but with enough nurturing and regular water, you can fill those spots in for a more uniform lawn.
Visit eLivingtoday.com for more advice to make your outdoor living space spectacular.
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home gardening
Start Planning Now for a Thriving Spring Garden
Winter offers an ideal time to plan for a successful spring garden. Assess your current space, research planting ideas, and design an efficient layout. Enhance soil health with compost, start seeds indoors for stronger plants, and organize tools to ensure readiness for the growing season. Prepare now for a thriving garden.
Start Planning Now for a Thriving Spring Garden
(Family Features) While winter weather puts outdoor gardening on pause in most parts of the country, the colder months offer a perfect opportunity to begin preparing for a lush garden come springtime.
With a little creativity, and some extra time spent creating a plan, you can set yourself on a path toward success before the growing season even begins.
Assess Your Space and Research Ideas
Evaluate your current garden, taking note of what worked well last season and where improvements can be made. Use this downtime to sketch an updated layout, research companion plants and decide which fruits, vegetables or flowers you want to grow next based on what did (or didn’t) work last spring.
Build an Updated Blueprint
Winter is the ideal time to upgrade your garden design and make tweaks for efficiency. Use the offseason to consider crop rotation patterns for optimal soil health as well as ways to maximize your space such as raised beds, trellises or containers. You can also make a list of materials needed for any new features you may be adding, such as an irrigation system, and map out their placement so you’re ready to build as soon as the weather allows.
Nourish the Soil
Even if the ground is frozen, you can prepare your garden beds by adding compost, leaves or organic matter in late winter, ensuring nutrients are available when spring arrives. Also remember to test your soil’s pH level now, which can help guide your fertilization plan.
Start Seeds Indoors
If you’re eager to get your hands dirty, consider starting your seeds indoors. Early seed starting gives plants a head start, allowing you to transplant stronger seedlings outdoors when temperatures warm.
Get Organized
Use the slower pace of winter to clean and sharpen your garden tools, sort through leftover seeds and make a supply checklist so you’re ready to dig in when warmer days arrive.
Find more advice to get your garden ready to burst to life in spring at eLivingtoday.com.
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Last Updated on January 4, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Urban Gardening 101
(Family Features) Urban living and lush gardens aren’t as mutually exclusive as one might assume. In fact, it’s possible to cultivate thriving gardens in even the smallest spaces.
The first step toward creating a successful small garden space is planning. Sketching out your garden area with a clear understanding of the actual dimensions is important. This allows you to allocate adequate growing space for the vegetation you choose and prevent overcrowding.
Part of your planning should also take climate into account. If the sun reaches your garden area, knowing what time the sun typically hits matters. Some plants are poorly equipped to handle the strength of direct afternoon rays.
Other matters to consider are the soil quality and whether it is adequate to nourish vegetation. If not, you may need to excavate and refill your planting areas with nutrient-rich gardening soil. Access to water is also a concern; if you’ll be forced to water by can, avoid choosing plants that would better benefit from a thorough hose soaking.
As you begin planning the actual contents of your garden, don’t hesitate to blend edibles with beauty. Many herbs offer attractive textures and colors that can add variety to a colorful selection of flowering plants. Edible plants such as strawberries offer color from blooms (and later brightly hued fruit), as well as trailing greenery that looks pretty along the edges of potted containers.
If your goal is color, give consideration to the blooming season for your selected plants. Unless you plan to enjoy your garden for just a short season, choose a variety of plants and flowers that bloom throughout your region’s entire growing season.
Especially in the smallest garden spaces, it’s smart to make the most of vertical space. Use a trellis or other structure to encourage vining vegetation to grow upward rather than outward. Hanging baskets or buckets are ideal for inverted growth of plants such as tomatoes or peppers, and shelving or tiered plant stands are handy for creating more plant real estate in smaller garden spaces.
Beautiful gardens need not be limited to those with expansive lawns in rural communities. Though smaller in scale, urban gardens can deliver equal beauty and a surprising volume of edible bounty with proper preparation and design. Find more tips at eLivingtoday.com.
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home gardening
Gen Z Turns the Houseplant Craze into a Lifestyle Trend: Shops Thrive as Gen Z Continues to Nurture the ‘Plant Parent’ Trend
Plant Parent: While many pandemic habits have faded, America’s houseplant obsession has only grown stronger. The indoor plants market was valued at $20.68 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $30.25 billion by 2032. Consider how mobile marketplaces are contributing to the trend.
Last Updated on January 13, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Gen Z Turns the Houseplant Craze into a Lifestyle Trend: Shops Thrive as Gen Z Continues to Nurture the ‘Plant Parent’ Trend
(Family Features) When Jessica Janik-De Gennaro started seeing her $20 succulents pop up between electronics and yoga pants on a mobile marketplace, she knew she’d found something unexpected. The entrepreneur had been shipping plants nationwide since 2012, but joining Temu in 2024 opened an entirely new customer base. “We saw growth right away,” said De Gennaro, the 43-year-old founder of Shop Succulents who sold 3,500 items on the platform in just four months. Her success reflects a broader trend: While many pandemic habits faded, America’s houseplant obsession only grew stronger. Spending on gardening-related items jumped 18.7% in 2020 – an $8.5 billion increase from the year before, and that momentum hasn’t stopped. The indoor plants market was valued at $20.68 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $30.25 billion by 2032, according to industry research.
“The potential for scaling is enormous,” De Gennaro said. “Seeing our $20 succulents next to Temu’s bargain electronics was surreal, but that’s the magic – the algorithm doesn’t discriminate. Our plants became ‘items to explore’ for people who never knew they wanted a spiky plant until it popped up between yoga pants and kitchenware.” Following a similar strategy, House Plant Shop’s inventory spans more than 500 species, from air plants and succulents to pet-friendly potted plants and rare tropicals. After joining Temu in December 2024, sales on the platform rocketed. By May, it had become the company’s largest online channel, surpassing all other marketplaces. “Temu quickly became bigger for us than any other marketplace,” said Andy Burde, 33, founder of House Plant Shop. The platform’s young customer base has proven ideal for plant sellers. A survey by CraftJack found that 6 in 10 young Americans say “pets are the new kids, and plants are the new pets.” The smaller plants, sold in 2-3-inch pots and priced around $10 by House Plant Shop, have performed especially well. “They’re affordable, easy to ship and our customers love watching them grow,” Burde said. The shift to mobile commerce has been crucial to both companies’ success. With 76% of U.S. adults using smartphones to shop online, platforms like Temu have become discovery engines for impulse purchases, including houseplants. Now, House Plant Shop ranks among the top three live plant sellers on the mobile marketplace. “Our goal is to become the No. 1 live plant seller on the platform,” Burde said. “We’ve found our second growth wave, and we’re excited to keep growing while staying true to our roots.” Join the plant parent trend by visiting Temu.com or downloading the app. Culver’s Thank You Farmers® Project Hits $8 Million Donation MilestoneLink: https://stmdailynews.com/culvers-thank-you-farmers-project-hits-8-million-donation-milestone/
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