Don’t suffer the ugly anymore. Here’s how to give your garden a fall makeover.

Your poor, sad garden. The spent vines, stubborn weeds, and greens gone to seed are putting a pitiful spin on your backyard retreat.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some simple tips to tidy up your garden and yard, which will also help prep them for next year.

Bury the Dead

Nothing looks sadder than leggy tomato vines, yellow zucchini leaves, and dried-up perennials that long ago displayed their last bloom. So pull and prune the dead or dying plants in your garden.

Bury spent plants in your compost pile; double-bag diseased and infested plants and place in the trash. (Empty mulch bags are great final resting places for these plants, so be sure to stockpile them in spring.)

If your tomato vines are still bearing fruit, keep staking and pruning them until the first hard frost, when they’ll likely die. And give the birds a break and leave some seed-bearing but spent blooms for them. They love sunflowers, cone flowers, berries, and black-eyed Susans.

Pull Weeds

This is the last time this season to pull weeds. Pluck them before they flower and send seeds throughout your garden that will rest in winter and sprout in spring.

If you have a mulcher, chop the weeds and throw them on your compost pile. If you want to be extra sure that weed seeds are dead, bag weeds in black plastic and place in a sunny place for a couple of months. The heat will kill the seeds. Then throw the cooked weeds on your compost pile.

Harvest Seeds

One way to cut garden expenses is to harvest and store seeds. One large sunflower, for instance, can provide seeds for hundreds of plants next spring. Here are some seed guidelines.

• Harvest seeds from heirloom vegetables and standard plants.
• Disease can spread through seeds, so only harvest seeds from your healthiest plants.
• Don’t harvest seeds from hybrid plants, which often are sterile or will look nothing like the parent plant.
• Only harvest mature seeds from dry and faded blooms and pods. Mature seeds are often cream colored or brown.
• After seeds are dry, store them in envelopes or glass jars in a cool, dry place.

Gather Supports

Stack and cover metal tomato cages. Bundle wooden or bamboo stakes, and store in a dry place so they don’t rot over winter. And retrieve panty-hose vine ties that you can re-use next spring.

Instead of throwing out broken cages and stakes, repurpose them. Snip off remaining cage legs to use for pepper supports. Broken tomato steaks will support smaller plants if you whittle one end into a point, so it easily slips into the ground.

Save time and money while adding touches of awesomeness to your yard.

We’re all about indulging in Starbucks’ latest seasonal concoction or this season’s “it” bag. (OK, maybe a knockoff version of this season’s “it” bag.) Trends are just plain fun — and they keep things interesting. But they also, by definition, are hip today and potentially worthlesstomorrow.

And that’s not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to your home and the first impression it gives. While a green lawn might be a safe bet to keep your home’s value intact, let’s face it, it’s boring.

For a little outdoor drama that won’t cost much (and actually saves money and time instead), try these landscaping trends:

#1 Build a Rain Garden for Colorful Blooms

What’s not to like about:

• Not having to water?
• Saving on your water bill?
• And having a colorful garden that’s easy to maintain?

A rain garden is the trifecta of yard care. Once seen primarily in drought-prone areas of the country, rain gardens are depressions in the ground (like a shallow bowl) filled with plants designed to filter and absorb water from your home’s rain gutters.

The benefit to you: Beyond the environmental benefits — like keeping rainwater from reaching the sewer system and filtering out pollutants — rain gardens can be gorgeous additions to your yard.

Ted Whitehouse, co-owner of Whitehouse Landscaping, says colorful deep-rooted plants, such as smooth blue aster and swamp milkweed, are ideal candidates. Many rain gardens also include beautiful stone and river-rock hardscaping to help channel the water.

Cost details: A rain garden doesn’t cost any more than other perennial gardens — about $3 to $5 per square foot if you DIY.

Related: Costs and Tips for Installing a Rain Barrel

#2 Create Natural Habitats (and Boost Your Curb Appeal)

Homeowners have finally gotten smart over the past couple of decades and stopped trying to force non-native plants into their landscapes. (Hostas in the hot Florida sun? A total waste of money, time, and water.)

And that’s great, but what’s even better and becoming more popular? Adding other native elements to your landscape to help bees, birds, and butterflies thrive.

Just a few simple things can create a native habitat, according to the National Wildlife Federation:

• Water, such as a bird bath
• Cover from predators, such as plants to help camouflage them
• Shelter to raise their young, like a birdhouse

The benefit to you: Because the creatures you shelter will help you.Many are important pollinators, which means having them around will help keep blooms a-coming — boosting your curb appeal, says Adriana O’Toole, a REALTOR® in New Jersey.

Cost details: Some native plants may cost marginally more than non-native species — because they’re more difficult for nurseries to propagate, are grown in smaller quantities, or aren’t available through traditional retail outlets — but their reduced maintenance costs deliver big savings over time.

According to the EPA, “the combined costs of installation and maintenance for a natural landscape over a 10-year period may be one-fifth of the costs for conventional landscape maintenance.”

#3 Shrink the Size of Your Lawn

More homeowners are replacing water-thirsty grass with low-maintenance alternatives that don’t need much hydration — if any. Easy alternatives include hardscaping or evergreen ground covers, such as pachysandra, which is drought resistant and fast spreading, O’Toole says.

The benefit to you: Less grass = less maintenance + lower water bills. Also, patios, walkways, and stepping stones introduce fresh eye candy and functionality to your yard space. Depending on where you live, turf replacement also could make you eligible for a rebate — up to $2 per square foot in California.

Cost details: Depending on the scope of the project and the materials used, the initial cost could be significant. The savings come over a few years as you reduce or eliminate your use of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and lawn equipment.

#4 Landscape With Plants You Can Eat

Backyard vegetable gardening has become so popular that these tasty plantings have finally broken into the decorative gardening space, especially for people with tiny yards or urban homes with only front yards.

Many vegetables and herbs produce aesthetically pleasing foliage and flowers, making them as delicious to behold as they are to eat. Basil, broccoli, Swiss chard, and feathery fennel leaves all have eye-catching colors and textures, for example, while eggplant, dill, and okra deliver beautiful blooms.

Edible landscaping ideas include:

• Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, chard, and kale as borders
• Pole beans on fences and arbors
• Rhubarb in flower beds
• Blueberry and currant bushes as hedges
• Cucumbers and zucchini as climbing vines on trellises

The benefit to you: It’s about saving money because you get double bang for your buck.

• Practically free food
• A gorgeous yard while saving on your food bill

Cost details: Many vegetable and herb plants cost only a little more than ornamentals, and their seed prices often are comparable.

Related: Check Out These Landscaping Walls That Include Edibles

#5 Add a Fire Pit to Get More Living Space

Whitehouse says more than half of his clients request a fire pit in their landscaping projects. They make beautiful — yet functional — focal points for your yard that encourage you to hang outside more often.

The benefit to you: Being able to use your outdoor spaces beyond the warmest months is practically like adding square footage. But best of all, there’s nothing like toasting s’mores on a chilly October night to give you so many happy feels.

Cost details: It can more than pay for itself when you sell — if you’re willing to do a little DIY. According to the “Remodeling Impact Report” from the National Association of REALTORS® (which produces HouseLogic), a professionally installed natural stone fire pit (with a 10-foot-diameter flagstone patio) costs an average of $4,500 — and returns about 78% when you sell.

But a kit from a home improvement store costs as little as $200 if you’re willing to tackle the job yourself … or check out the myriad of easy tutorials you can build from scratch like this DIY fire pit.

#6 Add LEDs for Lighting That’s Cheap to Use

LED technology is the continuing trend for illuminating your home and property. Advances have reduced the bulbs’ harsh tone, producing a warmer glow similar to halogen.

The benefit to you: Any type of lighting adds warmth and safety that homeowners and potential buyers value, O’Toole says, and it allows you to highlight special features in your landscape or architecture.

In addition, low-voltage LED lighting lasts 10 to 15 years, making it about as low maintenance as you can get.

Cost details: LED bulbs themselves cost more than halogen bulbs, but because they use 75% less energy and last eight to 25 times longer, they’re cheaper in the long run. But don’t forget to consider the visibility of the light fixture itself once those LEDs are on. You may want to spend a little more money on light fixtures that are easily seen, such as those that light the pathway or entry, so they complement your home, Whitehouse says.

Stay away from rubber mulch. And Bradford pears.

The house. The yard. It’s all a part of the American dream, right? But after a few seasons with raking, mowing, fertilizing, watering, weeding, pruning, and more, having a yard can feel more like an endless fever dream.

Having a yard doesn’t have to suck up every a moment of your life. The trick is picking plants and landscaping materials that don’t need tons of help from you to look good. Here’s what to plant so you can reclaim some time.

Grass

For being everywhere, grass is a lot of work. “It’s high maintenance,” says Abra Lee, a University of Georgia extension agent. “It needs a lot of mowing, fertilizer, and water. It’s prone to disease.”

Even so, it’s kind of a must for most yards. To make your For the Greenest GrassAdd nitrogen. And resist the urge to mow it super short. That’ll definitely brown it up. Maybe kill it.Read More InLawn Care Tips for the Greenest Grassgrass maintenance life easier, go with as small a patch of grass as you can get away with, and plant these types:

Grass for Northern Climates

• Fescue: It’s disease resistant and slow growing, so it needs less mowing and fertilizing than other types. You can also grow it quickly from seed, cheaper than buying sod.

Grass for Southern Climates

• Bermuda: It grows in poor soils and can withstand kids and dogs romping on it nonstop. It’s nearly impossible to kill — good if you’ve no interest in caring for a prima donna lawn.

 

Bushes

Pick bushes you don’t need to prune constantly. The time you spend trimming boxwoods into tidy little balls is part of your life you’ll never get back.

• Azaleas: They look best when you let them grow into natural, unpruned drifts. There are more than 10,000 named varieties, so there’s an azalea for your yard and climate. They can live for a century so you may die before they do. If you live in colder climate, go with rhododendrons, azaleas’ larger, tougher cousins.
• Emerald Green Arborvitae: It’s a fast-growing evergreen that can stand up to heat and humidity. It’s a good choice for a hedge. They’re tidy, Christmas-tree shaped plants you’ll never need to prune.
• Hydrangeas: They’re fast growing and covered with fab blooms from spring till fall. Prune a hydrangea and it will not make flowers, which defeats the purpose of having them. There are hundreds of varieties so you’ll find one that will thrive in your area.
• Cryptomeria: This one’s a fast-growing evergreen that tolerates neglect. It’s also called a Japanese cedar. It’s tall, tapering, and elegant.

Flowers

Perennials are the lazy gardener’s friend. Plant them once, and they’ll come back year after year.

• Coneflowers: They bloom all season and come in a rainbow of colors, but the varieties with purple or white blooms are the sturdiest. An added bonus: They’re great for bouquets. Cut them and bring them inside. Fresh flowers from your own yard! What’s not to love?
• Black-Eyed Susans: These yellow flowers look like the ones kids draw. They bloom from last frost to first frost and they can take almost all the heat, drought, and neglect you and Mother Nature can dish out. Also, they will plant themselves, dropping lots of seed so you’ll get new plants each spring.
• Russian Sage: Don’t fertilize it or water it too much, and it will reward you with a mound of silvery foliage and spires of violet-blue flowers that last all summer.

Trees

First, buy the largest young tree you can afford, because a tiny switch of sapling might not become a big tree until you’re eligible for AARP. Second, don’t plant a Bradford pear. Ever. They crack and fall too easily. Instead, plant these:

• Oaks: They’re strong and can live for a century or more. They can take a long time to become majestic giants, so if you’re looking for shade, prepare to be patient. Pin oaks and sawtooth oaks get big the fastest; they can grow as much as two feet a year.
• Crepe Myrtles: They make flowers in the summer and their leaves turn in the fall, so you get two seasons of color. Best of all, they grow very fast, going from sapling to mature tree in five years.
• Tulip Poplar: They grow to a regal 90 feet tall, and make tons of shade. You’ll get tulip-shaped flowers from it in late spring, and bright yellow leaves in the fall. They’re disease resistant and strong enough to withstand winds that would take down other trees.
• Cherry: They’re little — 20 to 35 feet tall — so they won’t overpower a small yard, and they make white or pink flowers in the spring. Stick with the non-fruiting types because they’re easier to grow and less messy.
• Eastern Redbud: This is a small, hardy tree that grows fast, and has spring flowers and fall foliage. Birds eat their berries, so you’ll make new feathered friends

Groundcover

Plant some instead of grass in places where there’s not much foot traffic. They’ll smother weeds, and they grow just fine with no help from you.

• Ornamental Grass: It makes fountains of wispy, slender foliage in reds, greens, golds. Varieties that are short and grow in clumps — like blue fescue, mondo grass, and liriope — are the best choice. And yes, there is grass in the name, but, no, you will not have to mow it.
• Golden Moneywort: This creeping vine grows fast, and once established, looks like a carpet made of tiny green-gold leaves. It keeps its color through the winter unless you live in Fargo.
• Ajuga: Another creeper (the plant type, not the human type who lurks at malls), this 2-inch tall plant has shiny, dark green leaves and, in the spring, blue flowers. It carpets the ground and will even grow in shade.

Mulch

Mulch is your friend. Put it around your plants, and it will put the smackdown on weeds, you won’t have to water as often, and it’ll enrich the soil when it decays into the earth. Enriched soil means healthy plants. Healthy plants don’t get sick and die.

• Hardwood or Pine Bark: These are the longest-lasting natural mulches. You’ll need to replace it once a year because it decays into the earth. Wait, you say, can’t I use some of that awesome rubber mulch that will still be there when my kids are in college? Yes, you can. But rubber mulch does a poor job of stopping weeds and will not feed your soil, so you’ll need to fertilize your plants and pull weeds regularly. Also, research has shown rubber mulch contains chemicals that can leach into the soil and eventually kill plants. Note: Rubber mulch is great for areas where you just want to cover the ground, not grow plants.