While many vegetable gardens will be reaching the end of their productive cycle soon, that doesn’t mean you should till all of the flowers, herbs and nonproductive vegetable plants back into the earth right away. This is a good time to let things go to seed or continue to bloom. Excess crops can become feed for wild animals, flowers are perfect for bees to forage for pollen and nectar, and seeds are vital food for birds.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Cardboard and paperboard boxes from items you purchase can be saved and reused for gift wrapping later in the year. They can be recycled, too. Just be sure to do one thing before dropping off the flattened boxes at your recycling center: Remove the plastic "windows" that they may contain. These can be easily peeled off from the inside of the box and tossed away in the trash. Leaving any plastic film on boxes can muck up the recycling process and render a whole load of recyclable cardboard useless.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Bees are critical pollinators, so anything you can do at home to help our bee population is a good thing. One of the easiest things is to plant prolific plants that produce a nice amount of pollen and nectar. Flowers are obviously a good choice, since they produce pollen more frequently, but so are trees and shrubs, because they produce very high quantities of both pollen and nectar. And remember: Avoid using chemical insecticides outside, where they can harm bees.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION