If you’re fastidious about mowing your lawn, this tip might be challenging for you, but try it anyway: Let the last few weeks of the mowing season pass without that weekly chore. Grasses, wildflowers and even weeds that grow wild produce seed heads, which are essential food for birds in the fall and winter months. When birds are making their annual migrations, they’ll stop to feed on the seed heads of grasses and weeds. When the ground is covered in snow, the tall plants will poke through and provide much-needed sustenance for a variety of birds. If you can’t allow your whole yard to grow wild, even a small section of unmowed lawn can help our feathered friends.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

With fall weather here, now is a good time to take a look at birdhouses in your yard and give them a good cleaning. A used nest is a great thing, but an old bird nest is not. Old bird nests in a nest box can be covered in things like droppings, feather dust and pieces of decaying insects. Remove the old nests and give the birdhouses a good washing. Then fill them with a variety of dried grasses from the yard to make them attractive to new birds to come and call home.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Did you know that the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity has a network of stores called Habitat ReStores that accept leftover materials from home renovations projects? The stores collect the items and resell them to benefit the work the charity does. If you’re undergoing a home renovation project, consider donating your surplus supplies or lightly used home items you no longer need. The top eight items ReStores love to receive are bathroom items (sinks and bathtubs), kitchen cabinets, working appliances (stoves, refrigerators and dishwashers), doors, windows, lighting fixtures, doorknobs and flooring.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION