Laidback Gardeners’ Day

June 24 marks the birthday of Larry Hodgson, the original Laidback Gardener—author, columnist, broadcaster, and speaker who introduced generations of gardeners to the joys of gardening… without working too hard.

To honour his legacy, we hereby declare June 24 to be Laidback Gardeners’ Day.

Unfortunately, the National Committee of Laidback Gardeners has not yet completed the necessary paperwork. We may have to wait until next year for the designation to become official.

Or perhaps the year after that.

In the meantime, we invite you to celebrate Laidback Gardeners’ Day by doing… not very much at all.

Why is June 24 the perfect time for the Laidback Gardeners’ Day celebration?

If we had to choose just one day of the year to celebrate lazy gardeners, it would undoubtedly be June 24.

First of all, the sowing is done. The trays that were cluttering up the guest room have been cleared out, the last few seedlings have found their place in the garden, and almost all the bags of potting soil have finally been put away. The bulk of the spring work is behind us.

The tomatoes are in the ground, the planters are overflowing with flowers, and the newly planted perennials have already begun to settle in. Of course, there’s always a plant or two still waiting in its pot, but it can usually wait a few more days… or even all summer!

We’re reaching the time of year when the vegetation is at its most lush. Trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and even the lawn are a vibrant green. Gardens are filled with flowers, fragrances, insects, and birdsong. It’s hard to imagine a better time to simply sit back and enjoy the show.

As for the harvest, the bounty hasn’t arrived yet. A few strawberries, some lettuce, maybe a little rhubarb or a few herbs, but we’re still a long way from the mountains of beans, zucchini, and tomatoes that will soon demand our attention. The garden is producing just enough to bring us joy, without yet requiring any work on our part.

From a laidback person’s perspective, choosing June 24 also makes perfect sense. The summer solstice, which marks the longest day of the year, usually falls around June 21. An organized person would no doubt have chosen that date to celebrate laidback gardeners.

But as the name suggests, the laidback gardener isn’t in any particular hurry. So the celebration was postponed by a few days. In any case, celebrating the longest day of the year three days after everyone else is a tradition that perfectly reflects the movement’s values.

Fortunately for us, nature never takes a break. Bees continue their work, earthworms loosen the soil, fungi recycle organic matter, and birds keep an eye out for pests. Meanwhile, plants take advantage of all this light to grow at full speed. The flower beds fill up, the plants brush against one another, and the empty spaces disappear so quickly that weeds struggle to take over.

And if you took the time to spread mulch a few weeks earlier, it’s now doing the work for you by retaining soil moisture and slowing weed growth. Yet another good reason to take a break.

Unofficial Activities

The National Committee of Laidback Gardeners was supposed to meet in the spring to plan celebratory events across Canada. However, the meeting was postponed to a later date, then postponed again, before being canceled due to a lack of enthusiasm and ultimately forgotten altogether.

Nevertheless, June 24 is a perfect day for lazy gardening activities such as:

• Admire a plant without trying to remember its Latin name.
• Watch the tomatoes grow.
• Sit in a garden chair and declare, “That can wait until tomorrow.”
• Ask the bees to stop buzzing, then remember that they’re the ones working today.
• Let a dandelion finish blooming in peace.
• Attempt to pull a weed from a lounge chair, realize it’s out of reach, and decide that biodiversity has rights too.
• Stroll slowly through the garden with a concerned expression to avoid being assigned an indoor chore.
• Discover a volunteer seedling and pretend it was part of the plan all along.
• Read a gardening book instead of gardening.
• Listen to the frogs, birds, or crickets.
• Take a nap in the shade of a tree you planted years ago.
• Reply “biodiversity” when someone asks why part of the garden looks a little wild.
• Find a scientific excuse to postpone weeding.
• Walk barefoot through the lawn… I mean, the dandelions.
• Watch the clouds drift by from a hammock.
• Share a photo of your garden with friends who are still sweating in theirs.
• Harvest a few lettuce leaves and declare the vegetable garden officially profitable.
• And above all, put off until tomorrow what could be done today.

Let’s raise our glasses…

Because the garden isn’t a place to work. We already do that the rest of the year. It’s a place of wonder, where we can observe life in all its splendor, find peace, reflect, and, above all, take a little nap in the shade.

So, on this June 24, Laidback Gardeners’ Day, let us raise a glass. Or perhaps a shovel… no, that seems like too much work. Maybe a hand? No, people might think we have a question.

On second thought, let us simply raise our spirits in honour of Larry Hodgson—but above all, let us not get up.