How to Plant a Garden Bed

After you've prepared the soil and raked it smooth, the next step is to add the plants. Here's what to do.

Things You'll Need

• Garden Hoses And Attachments
• Garden Trowels
• Plants
• Shovels
• Stock Seedlings
• Watering Cans

Instructions

1. Remove seedlings from their containers, and loosen the roots gently if they're root-bound. Place the unpotted plants back into the nursery flat, lying on their sides with the foliage all facing the same direction. Work quickly so the roots don't dry out.

2. Begin planting at the back of the garden bed. This way you won't be stepping all over the plants you've just put into the ground. Keep the flat of plants where you can easily reach it.

3. Use a trowel to make a hole for each plant. Stab the trowel into the soil, trying to gauge the depth so that the hole is only as deep as the rootball. The crown (the area where the foliage meets the rootball) of the plant should be at the surface of the soil.

4. Pick up the rootball of a plant with your free hand.

5. Lower the plant into the prepared hole.

6. Adjust the depth if necessary. With your trowel, shovel in a little soil to fill the hole around the plant, or scoop out a little more soil to make room for the plant. You want the top of the rootball to be at the surface of the soil.

7. Push the soil into place around the roots with your trowel.

8. Continue working backward, planting as you work toward the front of the bed.

9. Cover your footsteps by fluffing up the soil with your trowel. Tender young roots push through soft, uncompacted soil much faster than through compacted soil.

10. Water the newly planted garden immediately after you've finished planting the entire bed. Use a hose at low volume or a watering can. Try not to get water on the foliage; apply it near the roots to settle the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• Plant in the early morning or late afternoon hours to prevent roots from drying out.

• Avoid using fertilizer until you begin to see new growth.

• Stand up and stretch your back every 15 minutes while planting.