“I use floating row covers over the lettuce instead of netting. No bugs or birds ever bother them.”
Your cover must be better than I have. It blows off and I can’t stay down long enough to secure it like it needs to be. I can get the netting on much faster and it stays there.
Well, I have raised beds. I throw the cover on top and it’s big enough it just hangs over the sides, then I toss some logs and/or rocks around the outside edge of the beds.
For the winter garden, I just roll the small logs forward till they rest against the landscape timbers. I have about 16 feet against a retaining wall, so I don’t have to hardly bend over at all.
When I have to get lower to the ground, I sit on a big flower pot turned upside down. I can’t take the bending due to lumbar issues.