Spring will be here before we know it. Here are a few tasks to consider doing in February to prepare your garden for its busiest season. Prune dormant apples, pears and ornamental trees. Hold off on pruning peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots until March. Shrubs that flower on old wood, ...

For decades, many Americans have been taught one simple retirement rule: When you stop working, stop taking risks. So retirees do what feels responsible. They move money into cash. They park savings in CDs. They hold onto bonds and keep their portfolios “conservative.” It feels safe. It ...

If you’ve ordered garden seeds from a seed catalog or online seed company at any time in the past, then you probably have a stack of 2026 seed catalogs or several online catalog offers in your inbox. If you’re tempted by all the gorgeous flower and vegetable photos in the catalogs, here ...

One of the biggest shocks people experience in retirement has nothing to do with the market. It’s not a crash. It’s not a bad year. It’s not even inflation — at least not at first. It’s the moment they realize something very simple and very unsettling: The paycheck stopped — but ...

I have a few houseplants (a schefflera, a rattlesnake plant and a spider plant), and most of them aren’t doing very well lately. It looks like a disease. The leaves are wilty and some have dropped. I’ve heard that swabbing them with alcohol could help. Swabbing houseplants with alcohol ...

We do a lot to protect ourselves in our homes. We put in smoke alarms, security systems, locks, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors as well as other safety and security measures. But there may be a significant threat in our homes that we don't do enough to address: Radon ...