August Home-Garden

National Gardening Association Preparing Soil for Planting

There's nothing more important than getting your soil ready for gardening. Soil is the foundation for your plants, and your garden can only be as good as its foundation. The soil must be finely worked and ready for the season because you won't be able to rework it once the garden is planted. An added bonus of working the soil well is that each time you stir it, you're killing weed seedlings near the surface, reducing weeding time later.

If you're planting a small garden, you can probably spade it by hand. Turn each spadeful of soil over completely. (If you have grass, turn it so the roots are up and the grass is downward to prevent it taking root again in your garden. The grass itself will decompose, contributing humus to the soil.)

Dig to a depth of 8-10 inches and continue working the soil by chopping and stirring it to break up clumps and make it loose and friable. An easier way of working the soil well is to use a rototiller. Many gardeners borrow or rent tillers at the beginning of the gardening season as well as at the end to till in all the garden residue. It's a fact of life that few garden soils start out perfect. Don't be discouraged-all soils can be made better.

If you could choose a perfect soil for your garden, you'd most likely want a deep, well-drained loam. Loam soils are a combination of clay, silt, sand and humus, and they usually provide a good balance of drainage and water-holding capabilities because of their high humus content. Clay soils are "heavy" often without good aeration or drainage. Sand is "light" soil which drains very quickly, and often doesn't hold nutrients very well. Sandy soil requires more frequent watering.

Copyright NGA

Reprinted with permission HouseNet, Inc.

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