Summer’s here and you can’t say the weather is preventing you from doing work around the house anymore. It’s time to get up, get out, and solve those little problems that have been nagging you all winter. If you’re planning on enjoying your outdoor areas this summer, all the more reason to start tackling the tasks you can complete at home, yourself.

There are many projects you could undertake with the right tools and know-how. Let’s go over a couple ideas for making your home the place to be all summer.

Herb Garden

Useful herbs like basil, oregano, and even cilantro thrive in the summer. In addition to saving you the trouble of buying these spices from the grocery store, an herb garden also adds a beautiful fragrance to your outdoor areas. Herb gardens need structure; a good planter is ideal for containing these creeping, crawling plants—but if you really want to take your herb garden to the next level, find an old wheelbarrow or wagon and plant your herbs in that. Herb roots don’t need to go very deep into the soil, and you can move your herb garden from its sun-splashed corner of your yard right up to your kitchen.

Tree Bench

Those short, cute benches that encircle trees at the park don’t have to live only at the park. They’re actually fairly easy to build yourself. You’ll have to create a hexagonal design and cut your wood precisely, but the result is a shady bench to hang out under your favorite tree. Make sure you paint or stain the wood to protect from sun and year-round moisture exposure.

Outdoor Gaming Area

For many lawn games, all you need is a relatively flat area of your yard and a lawn mower, but simple designs, like delineating the play area from the rest of the yard with flat stones, short shrubs, or lawn decorations can be the final touch your croquet court needs.

Tiny Garden

Growing berries, tomatoes, and other delicious produce in your backyard takes a bit more effort than growing herbs, but it doesn’t have to take up more space. Hedging in a small tomato grove, for example, can be as easy as sectioning off a small corner of your yard with walking stones or a short fence. The idea is to keep the plants from overgrowing their area. Stones work well because the plants can’t spread their seeds on them and grow through them.

Potting Bench

When you just have too many potted plants that need homes in the ground, build yourself a small, outdoor bench where you have enough space for the potted plants, a place to hang your small gardening tools, and a space to store your pots and specialized soil. Use a wire screen to hang your tools from.

All of these projects are relatively small, yet add big-time positive change to your outdoor areas. You can add a little pizazz to your yard simply and relatively cheaply if you plan ahead and measure twice before you cut.