Whether you live in a Eugene, Oregon apartment with affordable rent rates, or a condo in New York City, it’s likely that you’ve used smart technology inside your place of living as many have experimented with smart lighting, thermostats, doorbells and additional security features.

Now, however, you want to know how to use smart technology for landscaping and gardening. Here are five tips that will help you get started:

Plant Smart

Before, we get started, it’s important to be smart about the items you plant. A Milwaukee couple moved to Austin, TX and were very excited about the longer growing season. In Wisconsin, some years it was unsafe to plant until Memorial Day, and frost could occur soon after Labor Day.

In Austin, many people began planting on February 1, and in a good year, sometimes there was no frost at all. If there were light frosts predicted, you could easily protect sensitive plants with blankets.

The problem was that these northern residents didn’t account for the summer heat and sharper southern sun angle. 60 straight 100-degree days not only caused them to water their plants three times a day, but even then, some flowers never made it past what the locals called “the dead of summer.”

These former Wisconsin residents had only experienced “the dead of winter,” so when their pansies and impatiens all died in July due to the extreme climate, they finally understood that they needed to go with native plants that were drought tolerant. The moral of this story is to first plant items that will easily thrive in your area. Maybe you can nurse a palm tree for a few months in North Dakota, but it’s an uphill battle.

Smart Lights

When you do install garden and pathway lights, be sure to use LEDs. Next, ensure that you have an app that can control these lights. First, LEDs use much less power than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, and second, they last a lot longer.

Smart Lawn Mower

While the exercise is good for you, you no longer have to push your lawn mower if you purchase a smart mower. Using guidewires and pre-installed boundaries, these mowers will cover all of the ground while you watch. If you don’t want to bother with any installation items, just get a smart mower that is operated by a smart phone app. Just be sure to keep your kids away from these mowers as the rapidly spinning blades are dangerous.

Smart Sprinkling Systems

Golf courses were the pioneers here, but you can follow with a smart sprinkler system that will let you personally create custom watering zones since you know that not all plants need the same amounts of moisture.

Smart Monitor

This is the best of all because if you stick this appliance in the ground, it will analyze your soil, moisture, and available sunlight, and it will then tell the app to suggest the proper plants for that microclimate. You can look like a gardening superstar with a lot less time and effort invested.

Smart gadgets are being made for a variety of uses now, and the value is no longer limited to HVAC or lighting. Be sure to watch the marketplace as new smart garden items are being regularly developed.

Whether you’re a first time home buyer, a renter or a condo dweller, you can make smart tech work for you both inside and out.