Emma Atkinson

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House Digest •

You've Been Spacing The Plants In Your House All Wrong And They're Suffering - House Digest

Just imagine: You come home after a long day, unlock your door, and step into a lush green jungle. Your space is teeming with houseplants, and it's wonderful — maybe even good for your health. But while your close-knit indoor forest is beautiful, your houseplants may indeed be too close together — negatively affecting their growth and long-term health. Sure, it's easier — and sometimes beneficial — to keep your indoor plants all in one spot, but if their leaves are touching or even intertwining,...
House Digest •

What To Do Before The Paradise Tree In Your Yard Becomes A Hazard - House Digest

A common feature in Florida landscaping, the paradise tree (Simarouba glauca) boasts shiny leaves and interesting-looking purple fruit — but gardeners beware, as this tree can be more trouble than it's worth. The tree can grow up to about 50 feet and has some beneficial characteristics, among them that it discourages soil erosion and supports nearby underground microbial life. While it is native to Florida and the Keys — it's not invasive — the paradise tree does pose some potentially troublesom...
House Digest •

Why A Windowsill Expander May Come In Handy For Your Houseplants - House Digest

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Houseplants are a great addition to any home. They can improve your mental health, and are a beautiful way to bring nature indoors. But here's the thing: Plants need sunlight. In some cases, a lot of it. And you only have so many spots in your home that provide the type and amount of sunlight that your plants so desperately need to stay happy and healthy. Sometimes you can stick a shelf near a window, su...
House Digest •

What Happens To Pumpkin Plants When You Add Banana Peels - House Digest

Growing your own pumpkins for spooky season is fun and all, but without proper fertilization, you won't have enough room to carve a silly — or scary — face into your homegrown orange squash. A key component of many fertilizers is potassium. Stunted growth is a telltale sign that your plants are desperate for potassium, so if your pumpkins are smaller than they are scary, you may be lacking the nutrient. If you're looking for a more natural way to feed your pumpkins, you might consider alternativ...
House Digest •

The One Downside To Keep In Mind Before You Try Woodscaping - House Digest

Everyone wants a nice-looking yard, but hardly anyone truly wants to spend the time and effort it takes to keep it up. One solution to this quandary is to replace some of your harder-to-maintain landscaping with "woodscaping," a popular term for incorporating wooden elements into your yard and garden. Woodscaping can be anything from decks to wooden paths to pergolas; if you can dream it up, chances are, there's a woodscaping element for it — try one of these ideas for building the perfect cover...
House Digest •

Why A Stark White Kitchen Might Look Out Of Place In Your Home - House Digest

Using the color white in your home is a popular way to bring a fresh, clean feeling to your space. There's a reason why you'll see a lot of white walls in hospitals — it's traditionally a color that represents cleanliness and simplicity. This is why, as you might imagine, white is a common color for kitchens. Many people see it as a blank slate, a neutral background against which to build a color palette. But, as with all trends, it can be taken just a touch too far. Stark, all-white kitchens ca...
House Digest •

The Outdated Bedding Trend That's Making A Big Comeback - House Digest

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Imagine what your mother's childhood bedroom looked like. It's possible that you're thinking of bedding full of ruffles. They could be patterned ruffles, big ruffles, small ruffles, lace ruffles. Everywhere ruffles. While they were all the rage in the past, the feminine texture is making a comeback, especially in the bedroom. For better or for worse, designers have identified ruffles as an interior trend...
House Digest •

The Counterintuitive Task That Actually Helps Your Dishwasher Last Longer - House Digest

Your poor dishwasher, you think. It must be so overworked from cleaning all the crud from your delicious meals off of your plates and silverware, returning them to their shiny and sparkly glory. You might as well give it the night off, right? Wrong. While you may think that turning away from the automatic time-saver that is your dishwasher and resorting to hand-washing your dishes is a good way to give your dishwasher a break, it's actually better to regularly run your machine to extend its life...
House Digest •

How To Care For Your Raised Garden Bed After Heavy Rain - House Digest

With changing seasons comes unpredictable weather — and that can include a deluge of precipitation. While it can be worrisome to look outside and see your raised garden beds swimming in a pool of rainwater, potential problems will actually most likely occur after the rainwater has drained away. An influx of water causes soil to compact, leaving little room for the air bubbles that provide oxygen for the roots of your plants. 
One of the advantages of raised garden beds is that they provide a mor...
House Digest •

What To Avoid When Choosing Soil For Raised Garden Beds - House Digest

So, you've built your raised garden beds and selected the plants you'd like to grow — if you haven't chosen your veggies yet, cucumbers and radishes are a couple of plants that are perfect for a raised garden bed. Maybe you even followed the ultimate guide to starting a raised bed garden. The next step is to choose the soil that will fill them. While it may be tempting to head to your local garden or hardware store and grab whatever bag of soil you see first, choosing the right soil — and knowin...
House Digest •

All You Need To Declutter Any Room In Your Home Is Your Phone's Camera - House Digest

Clutter. It's every minimalist's worst nightmare and can really ruin the look of an otherwise beautifully curated space. An easy first step to decluttering is to go through your kitchen utensils and food storage containers, just two of several common items you can declutter for a cleaner, tidier home. But maybe you've tried decluttering methods before and are still ending up with crowded rooms, and you just don't know where to start. What you may be experiencing is a psychological phenomenon cal...
House Digest •

The High-Maintenance Lawn Care Task That Really Isn't Worth It - House Digest

Lawn care isn't for the faint of heart. In the long run, lawn care service can be worth the money, especially if you'd prefer to spend your time away from a garden hose and lawnmower. But if you're a devoted grass grower, you're likely always looking for ways to become a better steward of your lawn. This might lead you to do things like automate your sprinkler system and never deviate from a rigid watering schedule. It turns out, however, that watering your lawn on a strict, clock-based schedule...
House Digest •

The Flowering Plant That Can Bring A Pop Of Color To A Shade Garden - House Digest

Purple flowering raspberry can be easily propagated from bare root, seed, or even sprigs, but is also commonly available at plant nurseries. The best time of year to plant a raspberry bush is after the last frost in your area, once the soil is easily workable. The plant tolerates everything from full sun to part shade, making it a perfect candidate for a border to your shade garden. Purple flowering raspberry thrives in moist, well-draining soil — but be sure not to over-water, as its roots will...
House Digest •

The Bulb You Can Plant In The Fall For Beautiful Red Blooms For The Holidays - House Digest

If you haven't purchased your Hippeastrum bulbs yet, you'd better get to it — the flowering plant more commonly known as amaryllis will bloom indoors just in time for the winter holidays if you start the bulbs indoors in the fall. Depending on the variety, the beautiful amaryllis can produce flowers in a variety of colors, from the more common red and white to striking pink and orange. Often given as holiday gifts once flowered, amaryllis bulbs can be ordered online or found at most garden and h...
House Digest •

Will Grass Grow If You Use It As Fertilizer In Potted Plants? - House Digest

If you're a gardener, you're likely always looking for new and creative ways to help your plants grow — especially natural and organic approaches. Fertilizing your potted plants with a layer of grass is just one of many ways to repurpose your lawn clippings for a healthier yard and garden. However, this may raise the question: Is there a risk of growing unwanted grass in your potted plants if you fertilize them with clippings from your lawn?
The answer is somewhat complex. Mulching or fertilizin...
House Digest •

The Outdated Trend That Is Taking Up Way Too Much Space In Your Bedroom - House Digest

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There's a monster in your bedroom. No, it's not under the bed or even in the closet. It's probably pressed up against a wall, a hulking shadow in the night. It can't hurt you, though. It can't move. This terrifying creature is none other than the large, freestanding wardrobe that is taking up way too much space in your bedroom. Freestanding wardrobes, armoires, dressers, and other bulky storage furniture...
House Digest •

Say Goodbye To Ugly Silverware Scratches On Your Dishes With One Simple Trick - House Digest

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You're so excited. You just bought a new set of gleaming white dinner plates. You eagerly use them at your next dinner party, happily showing them off. But wait. What's that? While you're properly hand washing the dishes, you notice unsightly marks on your precious plates. They won't come off with dish soap or your favorite household cleaner. Say hello to every white plate owner's never-ending battle: ug...
House Digest •

The Surprising Way ChatGPT Can Help You Decorate Your Home - House Digest

Commissioning a personalized watercolor painting or line sketch is a beautiful way to commemorate buying your first home or remembering the house where you grew up, but it can be costly. Instead, consider using ChatGPT. First, help it understand the task you're about to request, set the scene. We wrote, "Hi ChatGPT. I'd like you to generate a watercolor-style image of my home. I am going to upload a photo of the house. Based on the photo, please create a watercolor image of the house and landsca...
House Digest •

The Colorful Shrub You Can Propagate In Fall For Free Blooms Next Season - House Digest

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Who doesn't love a free plant? Thanks to the magic of propagation, it's possible to get more bang for your buck in your garden — even when it comes to shrubs. The colorful hebe shrub, in particular, is a popular landscaping feature that is easily propagated. Available in variations that produce blue, pink, and even purple flowers, hebes are an evergreen shrub that grows best in full sun and semi-well-dra...
House Digest •

The Low-Maintenance Red Perennial Perfect For Gravel (With One Big Catch) - House Digest

Hesperaloe parviflora, or red yucca, is a staple of many dry climate landscapes. Native to Texas and northeastern parts of Mexico, red yucca does well in desert conditions—it thrives with little water and lots of sun. The hardy succulent is often recommended as an ideal plant for rock and container gardens. Because the red yucca loves well-draining soil and can tolerate dry conditions, it takes its place among lavender and butterfly milkweed as one of many beautiful plants that grow well in grav...
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