7 Tips For Reducing Your Garden Workload This Labor Day

As we take a break this Labor Day to honor the strength and prosperity of good work, find a moment to do the same in the garden. The holiday weekend is a chance to soak in the last big days of summer and regroup for the coming season, including steps to reduce your workload for easier gardening next year.

Summer’s transition is an excellent time to inventory your soil and infrastructure and consider simple adjustments. Here, we’ll highlight easy ways to make gardening efficient, productive, and less labor-intensive.

Incorporate Raised Beds

Raised beds are easy to use and one of the best ways to reduce your garden workload. They allow gardeners to grow an array of vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals while controlling site placement, soil quality, and moisture needs. These elevated planters accommodate cut flowers, pollinator favorites, shade selections, fruits and food crops, and more.

Raised beds are accessible garden options, making harvesting and tending plants easier. As elevated planters or ground-level frames, varying heights and sizes increase the ease of access in maneuvering around the containers. 

The beds adapt easily to different crops and seasonal changes, and pulling and planting new arrangements is less labor-intensive (way less back-hunching!) They also create more manageable weed control.

Raised beds offer solutions to challenging situations in areas with poor soils, drainage issues, small spaces, or no soil at all. They also provide a fun, functional growing opportunity. Whether metal or cedar raised beds, lasting materials bring a variety of configurations to the function and layout of the garden space.

Get Portable With Grow Bags

Growing plants in fabric bags is a versatile way to grow and expands site options. The bags are portable, available in different sizes, and easy to fill, making gardening possible in spaces with poor drainage, weed issues, or challenging soils. Instead of hauling heavy containers around, choose a grow bag for seasonal crops or to grow out plants as they establish for transplanting.

Simply fill a bag with the potting soil of your choice and grow your favorite plants instead of employing a bulky planter. Choose the bag based on plant size, from small bags for lettuce to extra large ones to house young trees or shrubs.

Lined fabric bags retain moisture and insulation to promote healthy roots. They don’t dry out as quickly as unlined or thin bags, lessening watering frequency. Grow bags are easy to store when not in use, and they are long-lasting.

Streamline Seed Starting

Starting plants from seed is rewarding and economical. It gives us the opportunity to grow varieties that are not commonly available, like heirlooms. Seedlings get a jump start on seasonal readiness to establish strong roots and larger plants earlier for lasting rewards.

As we begin to look toward the cool season, consider seed-starting strategies. Mild climates can sow year-round, while many of us start seeds in the winter months for early spring transplanting. Reusable cell packs, trays, and pots cut down on waste and make it easy to start seeds indoors and harden them off outside.

We love cell packs for their airflow to roots and ease of removing seedlings from the pack—simply pop them out with a finger through an opening in the bottom of the cell. Universal trays are durable and sturdy for long-lasting support. Buy pieces in a bundle or individually to get growing.

Ease Watering Sessions

Around Labor Day, our plants still need plenty of water to withstand weather fluctuations and long, warm, end-of-summer days. To ease watering, consider upgrading supplies and incorporating self-watering techniques.

The garden Oya watering pot uses a unique olla technique to reduce watering needs drastically. These pots use a porous terracotta clay reservoir to deliver water to the surrounding soil. 

To use the pots, bury them in the garden bed and fill the reservoir with water. The porous terracotta leaches water into the soil. Roots are drawn to the water source, sending themselves toward the pot and soaking up just the amount of water they require.

The watering pots are available in three sizes to accommodate various watering needs and bed sizes. Store the pot indoors over the winter in cold climates to prevent the clay from cracking. Give yourself a break with this easy method, built on ancient techniques.

Do A Soil Test

Soil testing is a valuable tool for inventorying the soil composition and state of available nutrients. Healthy garden soils mean a reduced workload down the road. A soil test every three to five years maximizes growing conditions. Testing near Labor Day allows time to add amendments for fall planting and to make longer adjustments toward spring. 

Soil tests help us know what we have too much or too little of in our garden soil and how to adjust it for the best growing conditions. With this test, gardeners receive a complete analysis with easy-to-follow information. It also includes recommendations on fertilizers and amendments to use to balance the soil.

Soil test results indicate pH levels, as important as other nutrient levels for vigorous plants. If you’re dreaming of blue hydrangeas or need to balance the pH, testing indicates whether to add garden lime or sulfur. These amendments take a few months to fully incorporate into soils; adding them in the fall is optimal.

Each soil kit includes a sampling bag to test soil from a single area. After taking the sample, send the soil to the lab using the mailer with pre-paid shipping (included in the kit cost). Results arrive digitally in about a week, with readings, explanations, and recommendations. Your local university extension office also offers soil testing and recommendations.

Grow Vertically

To save ourselves some work this Labor Day and beyond, consider going vertical with trellises, arches, or streamlined planters. Greenstalk plantings are versatile structures with stacked planting pockets for easy growth and harvesting. The columnar pockets and water reservoir streamline planting, growing, maintenance, and space. While space-saving, it doesn’t limit growth potential, and many plants grow well in various configurations.

In late summer, grow vertical crops that bridge summer and winter and adapt to weather fluctuations. Or choose cold-hardy selections to overwinter for a spring harvest. For Greenstalk and upright potted growers, use bok choy, garlic, radish, scallions, kohlrabi, beets, and lettuces.

Sow A Cover Crop

Cover crops are easy to sow and improve growing conditions in the long term. If you’re not planning a fall growing rotation or have bare earth to hold until spring, specialized plants help improve and nourish the site. Fall-planted grasses and legumes work with microorganisms to protect and enrich soil between primary crop-growing phases.