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Get excited to never kill another plant again.

$26.99 for a fiddle leaf fig, anyone?

Before you can roll around in the grass or have a picnic in the backyard this summer, you need to prep your lawn. Just like you spring clean your house, now’s the time to get your yard in shape for the season by doing all those necessary tasks like removing debris, replacing grass, or taking out weeds. These ten items will help you give it a fresh start and set the groundwork for a beautiful, lush lawn come June, or you can always bring the great outdoors inside by growing grass indoors.

Here’s how to grow your own.

Do you know what a mandrake is? If you’re a botany enthusiast, you probably do. However, if your plant knowledge ends right around “dandelion” and “ivy,” you may not know. It’s a hearty root, but it’s also different from other growing thingamajigs in that it…kind of looks like a human. And if you’re a fan of Harry Potter franchise, you know this more than anyone as to how alive they can seem.

Weeds. They’re polarizing little things, met with hatred by some and indifference by others. I, for one, am not loving the dandelions popping up in my yard this spring, as we’ve been working on a grassy (albeit imperfect) area for our son to play in without resorting to chemicals, and dandelions are foes of grass (especially tender new shoots). Once they spread their ground-hugging leaves, they stifle what’s around them, leaving only dirt behind.

Planting season is upon us, so let me tell you a little story of how this garden came to be. When we bought a house last year, I failed to inquire about the summer weather, thinking it would be just as warm and clear as it was on our open house day. NOPE. Instead, I encountered summers full of chilly fog and harsh winds, much to the dismay of my aspiring green thumb.

For design-aware individuals, plant buying isn’t a matter of picking up whatever potted plants the grocery store happens to have on display. No, we want that perfect snake plant that we already have the ideal stand for, or that fiddle leaf fig that we envision arching just so over the reading chair in the living room. Whether you’re shopping for interior plants, privacy hedges, or container gardens, you probably have something specific in your mind’s eye.