First signs of spring in Phoenix. This native bush started out as an 8 inch green ball in a 6″ nursery pot, many years ago … Nikon D70. Click image for larger file....

In this installment of 10 Questions for..., Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Julie Moir Messervy, landscape designer and author of Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love . Here Messervy talks about her landscaping philosophy, details how to create an energy-efficient yard, and offer...

While Mother Nature has dumped a decent amount of snow on the Consumer Reports headquarters this winter (as you can see in the video, right), early on in the testing cycle for snow blowers, the white stuff was limited. In mid-December, testers began preliminary work using wet sawdust, since it can s...

I'm looking out on my eight garden beds in the back yard. The strawberry and asparagus bed is wintering-over just fine. I cut the asparagus ferns down a week ago, when they finally turned brown, and fell over. Now, they are ready for sending up new stalks, which I will be able to harvest this year. ...

More than 31 million cut Christmas trees were sold in the United States last year. And while the vast majority of them were recycled after the holiday, you can make your Noel greener by buying a live tree that you plant outdoors after the holidays. Using energy-efficient LED holiday lights is anothe...

I'd like to save money by not paying a service to plow my driveway this winter. Can I add a plow or snow blower to my lawn tractor? Adding a plow or snow-blower attachment to your tractor isn't an ideal solution, according to our power-equipment guru, Peter Sawchuk. "Wet snow is heavy, and a co...

Not to long ago you might have wondered how to spend your federal economic-stimulus payments. And recently you might have seen your retirement, college fund, or other investment money seemingly shrink before your eyes. But there are some ways you can stretch the money you’ll spend on your home thi...

In the market for a new gas grill? Read our latest report on these outdoor cookers as well as our recent First Look on the Perfect Flame 720-03533 gas grill. This four-burner model is an electronically controlled gas grill with an interesting feature: Its control panel has a digital touchpad—there...