How Nurseries Can Cope with Labor Shortages Without Losing Efficiency
Labor challenges aren’t new to the nursery trade — but they’re getting harder to ignore. Many growers and rewholesalers are running leaner than ever, struggling to find skilled help while demand continues to rise. Fewer seasonal workers, higher wages, and tighter margins have made “doing more with less” the new normal.
The pressure isn’t just in the field. Behind the scenes, quoting, updating availability, and managing logistics have become just as time-consuming as growing plants. It’s no surprise that many teams are looking to automation — not as a replacement for people, but as a way to keep pace with the work.
The Labor Reality
Across the industry, open positions are staying unfilled longer, and it’s affecting every part of operations. The same team that’s responsible for production often ends up managing quotes, responding to availability calls, and tracking orders manually. Those hours add up quickly, leaving little time for proactive sales or customer support.
At the same time, projects are getting larger and more complex. Buyers want faster turnarounds and more transparency. It’s not that the work has changed, it’s that expectations have. And the old systems for handling them don’t always scale.
What Automation Really Means
In the nursery world, automation doesn’t mean robotics or conveyor belts. It’s about reducing the administrative drag that pulls people away from production and customer relationships.
Automation can be as simple as moving from spreadsheets to shared digital availability lists, or setting up systems that keep orders, confirmations, and shipping details in one place. The goal isn’t to replace the human element, it’s to keep skilled people focused on the parts of the job that actually require judgment and experience.
Simplifying the Work with Smarter Systems
Across the industry, more nurseries and landscape companies are leaning on digital tools to handle the administrative side of sourcing and sales. Systems like LandscapeHub have become part of that shift, not to replace the way people buy and sell, but to take the friction out of it.
Instead of juggling spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls, many teams are using centralized platforms to keep quoting, availability, and order updates organized in one place. It’s a practical step toward reducing the back-and-forth that slows down transactions and eats into production time.
For suppliers, that means fewer manual updates and faster turnaround on buyer requests. For buyers, it means clearer communication and more confidence that what they’re ordering is available and accurate.
These process improvements don’t change how relationships work; they just make them easier to maintain. And for nurseries already balancing tight timelines and limited staff, that efficiency is becoming essential, not optional.
Keeping People at the Center
The nursery business will always rely on relationships. A grower’s reputation is built on trust, consistency, and plant quality, not on software. But the tools we use can support those relationships by making everyday tasks simpler and more reliable.
When administrative work runs more smoothly, teams have more time to focus on customers, crops, and planning for the season ahead. That’s where automation earns its keep, not by changing how we work, but by giving us time to do it better.
The Shift Already Underway
Labor shortages aren’t likely to disappear. But the operations adapting fastest aren’t just hiring more people, they’re rethinking how work gets done. Automating routine tasks and standardizing information flow can free up hours each week, reduce stress on limited teams, and keep business moving when labor is tight.
In a time when every hour counts, simplifying how we manage orders and communication isn’t just helpful, it’s becoming a competitive advantage.
Get Back to Work — Not Paperwork
Log in to your LandscapeHub account to pick up where you left off:
→ Start a new cart
→ Review open orders or invoices
→ Compare supplier inventory
If you haven’t logged in lately, now’s a good time to see how much simpler your busy season can be.
