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What Is Clay Soil? As a component of soil, clay is inert; it is a mineral rather than the product of decayed organic material. Two features of clay contribute to its behavior in the garden: the size and shape of the particles. Whereas a grain of sand may be roughly 2 millimeters in size, a particle of clay is only about .002 millimeters in size. Furthermore, clay particles fit together in a sheet-like structure, giving soils with a high clay content the ability to retain water....

Take a closer look at the traditional anniversary flowers that are associated with major milestone wedding anniversaries. Pansy (First Anniversary) A pansy is a small, delicate flower, much like a newlywed couple. The beginning of a marriage can be very delicate. This plant only grows once a firm foundation is established. A potted plant of pansies is an appropriate first wedding anniversary gift. Cosmos (Second Anniversary) Representing the second anniversary, the cosmos is a sublime flower of unique and intense beauty....

To find out, we asked interior designers what paint colors they most prefer to use when working on rooms full of brown furniture in their projects. Keep reading to hear their answers and gather decorating tips in order to make your own space shine. Pick a Warm Gray “Warm grays are my go-to neutral to pair with rich brown furnishings," says designer Allison Knizek, who is particularly drawn to Benjamin Moore London Fog....

Base cabinets should be styled to match the upper wall cabinets, and arranged so the kitchen or bathroom layout flows effortlessly. In kitchens, the lower cabinets are interspersed with the stove, oven, refrigerator, or dishwasher and support extensive countertop work surfaces. In bathrooms, the base cabinet, typically called a vanity, supports a countertop and sink. Base Cabinet Basics In many rooms, base cabinets are what define the space as they provide important storage....

Although it sounds easy, mapping all the breakers in a service panel can take two people several hours. A great little device that simplifies this task is an electronic circuit breaker finder, which easily locates a circuit in a breaker box and makes this all a one-person job. This device works for either circuit breakers or fuses and is very easy to use. Parts of a Circuit Breaker Finder An electronic circuit breaker finder includes two parts: a transmitter and a receiver....

History of the Railroad-Style Apartment The design of railroad-style apartments was a response to overcrowding in cities in the U.S. in the mid-1800s. Railroad-style apartments were built into the early 20th century in tenement buildings and subdivided brownstones primarily in urban areas such as New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington D.C. but can be found elsewhere. Railroad-style apartments were constructed at a time when building regulations around sanitation, light, air, and privacy were not yet standard and amenities such as elevators were not part of the package....

Glass Two sheets of glass comprise a double-paned window. Sometimes this is called glazing, as in double-glazed window or triple glazed window. Single-paned windows are less common than in years past, with double-paned windows being more the norm. Insulated Glass Unit (IGU) The insulated glass unit is the heart of the modern window. IGU is a window industry term that refers to a double- or triple-paned collection of glass, gas, seals, and gaskets....

Almost every county in the United States has an Extension Office. They are an essential resource all gardeners should know about, with plenty of resources to take advantage of. Extension offices are run by university staff, and their programs engage numerous volunteers who are trained as part of the program and then give back to the community in the form of volunteer hours. Two well-known Extension programs are the Master Gardener Program and 4-H, America’s largest youth development organization for farming and animal husbandry....

Grandma’s Wicker A front porch calls for a nice, old-fashioned wicker chair, along with a glass of lemonade and a sleeping cat. While the cat and lemonade may be feasible, that wicker chair might be harder to come by. Over time, authentic wicker rarely holds up against extremes in temperature over time, and even on a covered porch, it can be subjected to hours of sun, wind, and rain. Then there’s that matter of all those relatives who tend to sit in it over the years....

Eventually, Tudor architecture fizzled out. It wasn’t until centuries later that the design style was reborn in the United States. Tudor Revival architecture is less common than some other American architecture styles, but its unmistakable charm makes it a fan favorite. The revitalization of this design style began in the 1890s and lasted through the 1940s. Many Tudor Revival homes are located in the northern US since their facade is ideal for colder climates....

What Furnace Short-Cycling Is When a home’s furnace short-cycles, its heating cycles run often but stop short of reaching the thermostat’s set temperature. Short also refers to the length of the heating cycles: The heating cycles run shorter and more frequently than they should ordinarily be. The furnace’s resting cycles might be short as well. An Example of Short-Cycling Your home’s thermostat is set to 72 degrees. When the home’s temperature dips below a pre-set minimum level of 65 degrees, the furnace turns on in an attempt to bring the house up to 72 degrees again....

Chinoiserie’s Origins “Chinoiserie isn’t really the purview of Sinologists. It was and remains identified as a non-Chinese take on Chinese decorative motifs and materials, specifically made to appeal to a non-Chinese audience,” explains Kim Dramer, author and specialist in Chinese archaeology. “It brings to mind richly decorated walls and furniture featuring Orientalizing motifs, and novel materials: lacquer, porcelain, jade and silk, among others. Chinoiserie can be viewed as a sort of reinvention of these materials in new forms for new markets....

About Hummingbird Migration Even though hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, their migrations can span hundreds or thousands of miles. While there are more than 300 hummingbird species, only a handful of them regularly migrate. Most of the hummingbirds of North America do migrate seasonally between northern breeding grounds and southern wintering grounds. Unlike many birds, however, hummingbirds migrate individually and do not travel in seasonal flocks. They migrate during the day, staying low in the air to watch closely for feeding opportunities, and rest at night....

While it will not disappoint as a design feature, it is essential to remember that oaks are among the most valuable native trees we can plant. The white oak provides a habitat and food for countless species of wildlife. The white oak is the best tree to plant to attract butterflies. It supports a ridiculous 934 caterpillar species throughout the nation! If you want to support pollinators and attract birds, planting white oaks is the way to ensure that will happen....

Potassium deficiency Potassium plays an important role in encouraging photosynthesis (the process of plants harnessing energy from the sun). Young tomatoes cannot absorb potassium as easily from cold soil as they can from warm soil. That’s why, when planted in cold soil, their leaves may turn purple or yellow for a time. As the soil warms, leaves might turn to their natural green. But plants will likely be stunted for the rest of the growing season, producing few to no flowers and as a result, few to no fruit....

While the starkness of a true checkered print makes it perfect for Halloween, it joins gingham and buffalo plaid on the list of fabric patterns that work particularly well for fall. We turned to the experts to find out what it is about this checkered print that makes it so seasonally (and subtly) spooky, how to use it, and which tiny tweaks help carry the pattern through to late autumn and winter....

The Spruce caught up with a couple of women living tiny for insight into why they chose this lifestyle and the impact it’s had. For them, their reasons for going tiny are deeply personal and recognizable among many tiny-home owners. But as women, they reflect a growing shift towards a more independent and mindful lifestyle. A More Mindful, Minimalist Life Loan Hy, who goes by Luwan, built her first tiny house after a divorce....

What Is Trench Composting? Trench composting is simple. You dig a trench—or any shape hole—approximately 12 inches deep in an empty space of your garden, add roughly four to six inches of compostable materials, such as kitchen scraps, spent garden plants, small prunings, thinnings, and weeds, and bury them with the soil you dug out of the trench or hole. The next step is…well, there is no next step. Benefits The best reason to compost in trenches is that it makes composting so simple....

Ditch the Futon A futon mattress folded onto a futon frame seems to be a rite of passage for young people living on their own for the first time. They’re not the most comfortable piece of furniture and not the most stylish, either. But, futons are heavy, durable, and they function as extra bedding or seating when necessary. Re-home your futon from the living room to a home office, den, playroom, or other space where there’s a little corner perfect for a quick snooze....

There are other advantages to Xfinity Home including the ability to arm and disarm the system—or glance at a feed from security cameras—using your television’s Voice Remote. However, convenience comes with drawbacks. The system lacks the most sophisticated interface and interactions offered by leading competitors. Its cameras are low resolution, lack a privacy function, and the interface experiences notification delays. In our five-week test of Xfinity Home, the core system of sensors and motion detectors performed well....