Growing your own food can be fun, fulfilling, and delicious. It can also be a ton of work — hauling compost, planting seeds, and battling weeds and pests — before you get the chance to harvest the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor.
There’s no way to make gardening effortless. (And why would you want to? That’s part of the fun!) But over 15 years of growing veggies, herbs, and more in raised beds at home and in community garden plots, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks that can help you save time, effort, and frustration in the process from seed to harvest.
Here are some things to keep in mind, whether you’re starting your first garden or just getting your old garden restarted for the spring.
Get plants or seeds delivered
If you’re like me, you enjoy making the annual spring trip to your local garden center or big box store to choose plants by hand. If you’re also like me, you don’t always have the time during this busy season, or maybe you want certain plants or seeds that aren’t available in your area. The solution? Get plants, seeds, and more delivered.
Our guide to garden delivery services lists a ton of places to source edible and ornamental plants, native pollinator seeds, flowers, and more. I personally like to use Southern Exposure Seed Exchange for seeds like “Sugar Ann” dwarf snap peas and Experimental Farm Network for really rare, unique varieties.
Choose the right crops
Set yourself up for success in the garden by dialing in your plant selection. Assess your level of experience, the time you can commit, and the space you have, then choose crops that fit what you can offer.
For example, if you’re a beginning gardener who dreams of biting into your very own juicy tomatoes, think about starting out with relatively easy-growing cherry tomatoes rather than jumping straight to a fancy heirloom variety that might be a little more particular about its care. If all you have to grow in is a few containers on your patio, start with compact, quick-growing plants like lettuce, kale, and radishes that will fit your space and be ready to harvest in as little as a few weeks.
Begin with veggie starts
Gardening is often about tradeoffs: You can save a bundle by purchasing and planting crops like tomatoes and peppers from seed, it’s true. But growing from seed takes longer, takes up space indoors, and can require an investment in gear like grow lights and heating mats to give those baby plants the conditions they need to thrive.
The solution? Let someone else do the work for you. Get a jump on the growing season by purchasing seedlings, also called starts. Your local nursery, garden center, or friendly farmer has used their professional know-how to make sure your plants are healthy and ready to thrive. Buying a six-pack of tomato starts might cost more than buying a packet of seeds, but you get to skip the time and hassle of DIYing.
Note that there are some beginner-friendly plants that sprout so quickly and easily that planting from seed is worth it, like kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, beans, and peas.
Add perennial herbs
Many of our favorite garden veggies are annuals in temperate climates, meaning that the plants die back each winter and must be planted again in spring. Cut down on effort at planting time by planting perennial herbs like thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, lavender, mint, and rosemary. Once they’re established, these vigorous, flavorful plants can adapt to a variety of climates and require minimal care to bounce back each spring.
Install an irrigation system
Once your plants are established, it’s your job to give them what they need. During the growing season, that means regular watering. In very hot, sunny regions or during a heat wave, that could mean watering multiple times a day. This can be a lot of work, and if you forget, you run the risk of those little plants getting burnt to a crisp.
This tip is a little more advanced, but if you’re planning a big garden, your water source is far from your beds, or your garden isn’t located close to home, installing irrigation might be a big time-saver that also helps you grow better plants. Irrigation systems involve hooking up garden hoses or drip lines to a timer attached to a faucet. Some irrigation systems are programmable, while you need to turn on others manually. After the upfront investment, they’ll help give your plants the consistent moisture they need while saving you time and effort.
Mulch the soil
Another way to make gardening low maintenance and protect your plants is to keep more of that moisture in the soil where it belongs. Mulching is the process of covering the soil surface with a few inches of organic material to help create ideal conditions for your plants to thrive. Your plants will withstand heat waves and occasional neglect during hot weather much better.
The best mulches for vegetable gardens include shredded leaves, straw, dried grass clippings, and salt hay. You may have some of these sitting in your yard right now for free, but you can also purchase mulch at your local garden center.
Mulching will also help you wage the battle against weeds, which want to take over bare soil and compete with your plants for resources like water, nutrients, and sunlight. With mulch, you’ll drastically cut down on time spent pulling stubborn weeds, saving you time and your back in the process. Avoid mulching vegetable beds with wood chips or those dyed shredded mulches, but you can use these for keeping pathways weed-free.
Use row cover
Weeds aren’t your only enemies in the garden. Insect pests are hungry for your plants, and the best way to protect your garden from them is prevention. You can do this with row cover, also known as floating row cover or reemay. It’s a fine, transparent fabric that lets in light and water while keeping insect pests away from your plants.
For example, in many regions of the US, brassicas like kale, arugula, cabbage, mustard greens, turnip greens, and radishes fall prey to the harlequin bug, which can chew healthy leaves down to the stem in just a few days. Protecting your seedlings with row cover and low hoops in spring before the bugs emerge, then keeping them covered, will ensure that these annoying insects can’t chow down on all your hard work.
Bugs aren’t the only pests who want to chow down on your crops. Birds, rodents like squirrels and groundhogs, rabbits, and deer could be ready to nibble on your garden, depending on where you live. It can be tougher to keep these critters away — netting, fencing, or planting resistant varieties can help — so contact your local cooperative extension for guidance.
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