Welcome back to How to Handyma'am! In this episode, we are continuing our Spring Series by teaching you everything you need to know to grow things outside your house this spring. We are also dedicating this episode to Arly's mother-in-law, Johanna, who is retiring after 20 years of working night shifts—congratulations!

In this episode, we cover the Do's and Don'ts of:

• Grading Your Yard: Why you need to slope the dirt away from your foundation (1 inch per foot!), use proper fill dirt instead of topsoil, and use downspout extenders to keep water out of your basement.

• Mulching: How 3 to 5 inches of organic mulch can save you from weeding and watering, why you should never "volcano" mulch around your trees, and how to get free mulch using Chip Drop.

• Gardening on Your Deck: Why heavy ceramic pots and regular dirt will cause "fast rot" on your wood deck, and why you should switch to light plastic pots with fast-draining potting soil.

• DIY Garden Beds: Emily breaks down how to build cheap, safe beds using cedar fence pickets instead of toxic pressure-treated wood. Plus, we explain the "lasagna method" for filling them so you don't go broke buying topsoil!

• Critter Control: Why your bird feeder is actually attracting raccoons to rip off your siding, natural ways to deter pests, and why you should never, ever plant bamboo or mint directly in the ground.

Plus, Minutes of Chaos: We're talking about eating Mr. Leslie's Cheesecake, Samantha getting her lizard-on in the Florida sun, happy sci-fi movies, and doing an ASMR review of the Enviro Brush (a reusable paintbrush helping reduce construction waste!).

🚨 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: In-Person Training! 🚨We are hosting our first in-person training this June! Head to our website and put your email in on the events page to get registration access two days earlier than everyone else.

🔗 All our links in one place: linktr.ee/howtohandymaam🏡 Check out our website: howtohandymaam.com