As a newbie gardener, it’s definitely confusing to keep track of all the things you need to do in your garden! What garden chores need to get done? How often should you do them? How essential are they? Well in this post I’m outlining all of my garden chores – daily garden chores, weekly garden chores, and even seasonal chores that you should do at the beginning and end of each season!
Ultimate Guide to Daily & Weekly Garden Chores
- Daily Garden Chores
- Walk the garden
- Trellis the fast growing plants
- Pest & disease control
- Watering or check the irrigation
- Add kitchen scraps to compost
- Harvest vegetables
- Weekly Garden Chores
- Adjust watering system
- Pull weeds
- Trellis & prune
- Organize gardening tools
- Beginning of Seasonal Garden Chores
- Get seed starting supplies
- Map out your garden
- Prepare your beds
- Start your seeds
- Transplant seedlings
- End of Season Gardening Chores
- Take cuttings and propagate plants
- Harvest everything
- Save your seeds
- Garden clean up
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What Are Gardening Chores
If you plan on keeping a garden, there will inevitably be things you have to do to keep that garden producing.
In fact, much of what we think of as “gardening” is really just a huge list of garden tasks or chores put together!
So while some of these things might sound like a lot of work, these daily garden chores and weekly garden chores lists make up the majority of what it means to do “gardening.”
Daily Gardening Chores
Now, when I talk about daily gardening chores, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I do all of these things every single day.
It means that on most days, I do a combination of most of these activities.
There will be days you skip because life gets in the way. Or simply because they are already done.
And there will be days you go into the garden and just stare at the plants, trying to find another chore to do. Just to spend more time in the garden!
So here is the complete list of all my daily garden chores!
And if you’re just looking to get started gardening, don’t forget to check out my Starting Your Urban Vegetable Garden workbook!
Walk the Garden
Every morning I walk the garden and look at all my plants. I pour my cup of coffee, put on my gardening shoes, and head outside.
I do this firstly because I like to be in my garden, but also to check for anything that seems off or out of place.
When walking the garden you should always look for signs that your plants aren’t doing well.
You should have healthy, green plants. But if you don’t walk the garden every day (or at least every other day) then you might miss signs of pests, disease, or watering issues.
And that can be very problematic in the long run since a lot of those issues escalate pretty quickly! If you don’t believe me just look at how my kale patch was completely killed off by pests in this video!
Walking the garden usually takes me no more than 5-10 minutes. But if I find other problems to deal with, it might be longer!
Trellis the Fast Growing Plants
If you grow vertically like I do, then you’re going to need a trellis or some sort of supports to keep your plants upright.
Which means you’ll need to trellis any vines that you have growing. And if you let them grow out however they want, there’s a good chance they’re not going to do what you need them to!
But I’m definitely not saying you have to go and tie up all your plants on the daily.
While some plants grow much slower, others (like beans and cucumbers) require daily or every other day attention in order to trellis the way you want them to.
And if I happen to skip a day of “helping” to trellis my bean plants, they get all tangled together and start trellising themselves onto other things!
Pest Control
Now, I am definitely adding pest control to the daily garden chores list since this is one task that you really can’t ignore for multiple days!
Oftentimes pests settle in your garden and go unnoticed since they’re so small or there aren’t a ton of them.
But they have the tendency to multiply faster than you can blink!
They go unnoticed, lay their eggs, and before you know it you have a pest infestation.
Trust me, it’s not fun! And it’s hard work to get rid of!
So do yourself (and your garden) a favor, and check for pests daily. Then get rid of, spray, or do whatever needs to be done to control the problem before it spreads!
Disease Control
The same thing applies to disease in the garden.
Usually when people say “disease” they’re talking about some sort of fungi that has started to grow on your plants. And they can spread fast!
So keeping a close watch for signs of disease is super important. Things like white patches on leaves, browning and yellowing spots, and female flowers dying before fruiting can all be signs that your plants are struggling with disease.
So familiarize yourself with common plant diseases, and some common organic remedies to treat them asap!
Water Plants or Check On Irrigation
One of the most important things I do on a daily basis is to make sure my plants are getting the right amount of water.
Now, that definitely does not mean I water them every day.
As long as the top layer of soil is still wet – maybe about an inch or so – your plants do not need to be watered.
So step away from the garden hose, put down the watering can, and turn off your drip irrigation.
And to be honest, turning off my irrigation system is one of the most important things I do for my garden!
Overwatering is a common problem that most gardeners face at one time or another, and knowing when not to water your plants is just as important as watering them!
Add Kitchen Scraps to Compost
I keep a kitchen compost bin underneath my kitchen sink. So whenever I cook I just add in my eggshells, coffee grounds, and any other compostable kitchen scraps. You can watch the full video on exactly how I do this right here.
And then when that little bin is full, I empty it into the outside compost bin. I also add in brown material as needed to balance the pile.
Now, this usually ends up being every other day. But it just depends on how much cooking we do and how many kitchen scraps we have!
Harvest Crops
This is probably the most fun daily garden chore! Because after all that work, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor!
And sometimes there won’t be tons of vegetables to harvest, but you should always be checking to see what’s close to maturity!
That way you know what you can expect in the next few days, and even keep track of any plants that are underperforming.
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My Morning Garden Routine
I make it a point to walk the garden at least once per day. And that usually happens in the morning.
That’s for three reasons.
One – I’m a very impatient person and I always want to see what’s growing first thing in the morning
Two – The best time of day to complete your daily garden chores is in the morning when it’s not as hot out
And three – because most of my vegetable plants open up their flowers in the morning – and by the afternoon a lot of the flowers have closed up.
So if I want to hand pollinate my plants, it usually has to be in the morning. And it’s just always nice to see all your plants flowering!
So I wake up, make some coffee, and head out to walk the garden.
First I check to see if the plants need more water. If they don’t then I turn off my irrigation system for the day (using the delay water setting on my irrigation timer.)
Then I walk through and look at each bed.
I check for these things, and deal with them as needed.
- Pest issues
- Disease issues
- Beneficial insects
- Anything to harvest
Then, if I see any other things that need to be worked on, I make a mental note to do them during my weekly garden chores time!
Weekly Garden Chores
Once a week I set aside some time to complete my weekly garden chores. This usually ends up being first thing Saturday morning for about 30 minutes to an hour.
These are things that are important garden tasks, but aren’t urgent. So I leave them for the end of the week when I have more time.
Adjust watering system
I garden using a drip irrigation system – which I absolutely love!
But as the temperature fluctuates and the seasons change, I have to adjust my watering system to match the plant’s needs.
Not doing this will cause your plants to die – either from lack of water or from overwatering!
So if you use an irrigation system like I do, you always want to adjust it accordingly.
And throughout the week on my daily garden walks, I am always looking at how much water the plants are getting.
- Is the soil still wet in the morning?
- Did it rain overnight?
- Did I have to turn off my irrigation system multiple times this week?
These are the questions I ask before adjusting my system.
If the soil is constantly dry, I might increase the length of watering time.
If I’ve had to turn off the entire system multiple times, then I will likely decrease the watering time. Or even turn off the entire system since the plants are getting what they need already.
Pull Weeds
Another thing that I leave for weekly garden chores is to pull weeds.
Now, I don’t usually get many weeks since I plant so densely. But on occasion there are some weeds to pull.
And usually these types of plants won’t take over the garden in just a few days. So I leave them til the end of the week and just toss them in the garbage.
Note: never put weeds in your compost pile! The seeds can get mixed into your compost and then when you add it back into the garden you’re just sowing more weeds!
Trellis & Prune
Once per week I will go and tie up my tomato plants, trellis any plants that are slower growing, and prune whatever is getting unruly.
And I include these two together because usually I’m pruning and then trellising one plant before moving onto the other.
For this garden task, some months will be slower – like at the beginning of the season when the plants are small. And some months it will seem like everything grew a food overnight!
So whenever you see the garden looking like it needs a haircut, set some time into your weekly garden tasks to trellis and prune!
Organize Gardening Tools
Call me crazy, but I like to see all my tools nice and organized in my potting bench.
Unfortunately, that’s not always how they are.
Because throughout the week I am usually in a rush and get a little lazy with putting my tools away.
So if you can relate, then set some time in your week to organize your tools.
Because nothing is worse than looking for that hand trowel and having it disappear on you!
Seasonal Garden Chores
Now, at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season you’re going to have some additional garden preparation to get your garden ready for the next season!
And when you complete these chores really depends on what growing zone you’re in.
For example, here in Florida, I can pretty much garden year round. So the spring garden and the fall garden often overlap.
My beginning of the season/end of season kinda blends together and I do everything at once.
But if you live in a climate with a lot of snow, you’ll probably have to do some end of season clean up and then wait before preparing the garden again in the spring!
Beginning of Season Garden Chores
- Get seed starting supplies – At the beginning of the season you’ll need to get everything prepped for the garden. So you’ll need all your supplies. Things like seeds, seed starting trays, and seed starting soil. It’s best to order these ahead of time so you’re not running around at the last minute!
- Map out your garden – after you decide what you’re going to plant, you’ll want to sit down and decide where everything is going to go! This is important since some plants don’t do well next to each other and can actually kill whatever is nearby. If you’ve never mapped out your garden, use this video to start. Then practice over and over again until it becomes natural!
- Prepare your beds – this can mean top dressing your soil with compost, amending your soil with fertilizers, or adding mulch to prevent evaporation. But just make make sure that your beds are ready for planting!
- Start your seeds – this is one of the most fun garden chores! Starting your seeds obviously needs to be done, unless you’re going to buy transplants for your whole garden. Which gets expensive fast!
- Transplant seedlings – whether you started seeds early or you bought your annual plants from a nursery, you’re going to need some time to actually get them in the garden. This should be done early when the sun is not in full swing to give your seedlings some time to adjust! You could also do this on a cloudy day.
End of Season Garden Chores
- Take cuttings and propagate plants – at the end of the season you should always take cuttings of anything you want to overwinter and keep for the next season. Learn to propagate cuttings into new plants and you’ll save yourself tons of money!
- Harvest everything – since you’re closing out the gardening season, now’s a good ideas to harvest all crops from your garden. Take those Instagram photos to post and make something yummy!
- Save your seeds – once you’ve harvested everything from the garden, don’t throw away those seeds! Seed saving will save you tons of money and time for next season!
- Garden clean up – end of season is the time to remove any annual plants that are starting to die off and clean up your space for next season. Most of my plants are annuals so I rip everything out of my beds and let the soil rest for a bit before starting my beginning of season prep.
After a while, all of these daily garden chores and weekly garden chores will seem like second nature and just be part of your garden routine. Plus, once you start getting a regular harvest from your garden, you’ll want to spend as much time out there as possible!
I hope this was super helpful! And for more gardening resources, get access to our free gardening resource library! It will help you fast track your garden and it only takes 5 seconds!
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