This is by far the hardest thing about gardening...soil preparation.
If you skip it you'll regret it later! It's laborious but the pay off comes later so it's well worth the time and energy to get this part right. Why waste money on plants only to loose them later due to poor soil conditions? The bottom line is that if you don't have good soil then your plants won't grow even if you water well.
So to keep it simple, I always do some form of a raised bed where I can control my soil. Then I don't have to do all this testing and wondering what my soil is composed of. It will also minimize weeds since there will be no seeds from the outdoors if you're putting in your own soil. Unless you live in prime farmland Iowa (I have a home there and it's the best soil on planet earth!) then you can't skip this step.
Make your own garden soil mixture.
For areas where I plant shrubs and flowers into my existing soil I dig ample size holes and surround the plants with my soil mixture.
2 parts compost and manure (2 -40 lb. bags)1 part peat moss (about 1/2 the amount of the compost.)
Then I add a little vermiculite. It helps retain moisture and aerates soil as does the peat moss. I just add around 2 quarts.
As I posted yesterday I built garden boxes. Now I had to get enough dirt to fill them. We are talking about almost 32 cubic feet per box because my boxes are 8ft. x 4ft. Now...they don't have to be filled to the brim and as I said *10 inches deep was over kill. 6-8 inches deep would probably be acceptable for many plants. That cuts it down to about 16 cubic feet per box. That's still lots of dirt so I am not buying bags for all that.
Filling my garden boxes with good soil.
Coming Tomorrow: Starting with Seeds.
Find out how starting seeds indoors went for me and the pros and cons of starting them.This 10 day series includes:
- Getting Inspired
- How to Start Box Gardening
- Prepare Your Soil
- Starting Seeds
- Choose Plants You Will Use and Enjoy!
- Planning Out Your Plant Placement
- Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumbers
- Favorite Flowers and Herbs
- Tools and Maintenance
- When to Begin Planting
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