One of America’s growing pastimes is owning a garden, growing your own vegetables and flowers, and beautifying your lawn. Taking care of your pride and joy outside is a great way to get exercise and keep your mind busy. With regular maintenance, your garden or lawn will stay beautiful all season long.

Lawn and garden maintenance generally entails buying a few tools, such as a spade, mower, weed whacker, shovels and gloves. You will need to keep some supplies on hand such as weed killer, a mild pesticide, potting soil, bags of fertilizer, and some cages and stakes if you are growing tall plants like tomatoes or sunflowers. Lowe’s has a great selection of supplies in their home and garden section. From starter plants to seeds and fertilizer, they can hook you up with everything you need to get started.

An important thing to remember at the beginning is how much water you are using. If you over-water, your plants will die. If you don’t give them enough water, your plants will weaken. If you get a good start in the spring, it will get most of the water it needs from the rain at first. Keep a good eye on your young plants, even if you bought them as immature potted plants at the store. If you ever come into a dry season, forgetting to water can be disastrous to your plants. If you go on vacation, ask a friend to water your plants while you’re gone.

Some good gardening gloves to protect your hands from blisters and irritants are also needed. You will also want to buy a spade or shovel to turn the soil when you start your garden too.

If you’re growing vegetables, know that a fully mature vegetable garden takes a few months. You will probably have the best results toward the end of August or even early September, depending on where you live. Check the labels on the packages of fertilizer for the recommended amount, frequency, and method of applying it in order to get the most effective results from your fertilizer and garden food.

Caring for your lawn can be just as fun. There is only so much you can do to protect your lawn from the sun during an unexpected dry spell or a torrential downpour, but there are a few things you can do to keep your lawn nice. Mowing your entire lawn once a week all season long, for example, is good maintenance. It keeps your lawn neat and trim, and it reduces weeds. A mild weed killer and a weed whacker should be used around the edges of your lawn and around your house, and wherever weeds are spotted.

If bugs are a problem, a bug spray or dry poison can take care of any infestation. Over time, even the best lawns can develop bald spots, and for these areas, you should plant some more grass seed. Start with adding new soil if the area is nutrient deprived.

Another thing you can do is to rotate which side of the lawn around your house you use throughout the season. For instance, if you spend all year long playing sports and having yard activities on your back lawn, this will trample the grass. It’s better to even out the amount of time spent on different parts of the lawn. You could play croquet or volleyball in your backyard one week, and host that next party in your front or side yard the next week to keep from stressing your grass.

If you have a lot of trees in your yard, taking care to pick up fallen sticks and branches will help to reduce strain on your grass, allowing it to grow. When fall arrives, you should rake the leaves regularly until the winter months come. This protects your grass for the next season when spring comes all over again. If you don’t have time for some of these chores, see if there are any industrious neighbor kids in your area. Many high schoolers are happy to mow your lawn or rake leaves for a little spending money. Just be sure to keep them hydrated by offering them bottled water or juice during the hotter days of the year.