How to Prepare Soil for Gardening

Gardening is a terrific hobby not just because it's relatively inexpensive, but also because you can really enjoy what you produce. Decorative plants can be put on display, and you can grow and eat just about any fruit or vegetable you can think of! Before you begin gardening, however, you're going to need to prepare the soil. Depending on where you live and the condition of your soil, there are several different steps you'll need to take.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fertilizer
• Gardening tools
• Water

1. Begin to prepare your soil by tilling it. Tilling your soil using a roto-tiller or even a spade will help break up roots and other growth in the soil. Tilling also helps aerate the soil, making it easier for it to hold its moisture, as well as increase the oxygen content in the soil. Just be sure to till between approximately 6 and 8 inches.

2. Add fertilizer to your soil. A good fertilizer has a good ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus to potassium (in the form of potash). Each fertilizer comes with it's own proportions, and you should choose one depending on your soil's specific needs (which you can determine using a soil test kit).

3. Add compost and/or manure to the soil. Compost is best fully mixed into the soil, while manure is fine for spreading over the surface of the soil (much to the chagrin of people walking by!).

4. Water the soil, but not so much that it becomes waterlogged. Puddling is to be expected when you are first hydrating soil, but if it continues then you'll need to wait for some of the water to evaporate or draw off.

5. Prepare divots in the soil wherever you plan on seeding it. The depth of each divot depends on the plant you intend to grow there (some seeds should be covered by an inch of soil, while others should be left exposed on the surface, for example).

Tips & Warnings

• Use a soil testing kit to check on the condition of your soil. Using a test kit is one of the best ways to determine how much or how little of any one fertilizer compound your soil needs. More importantly, a soil testing kit can help you determine whether you need to raise or lower the soil's acidity, an often overlooked aspect of gardening.
• Don't over saturate your soil or over-sow fertilizer. Doing either will cause stunted growth in your plants or, worse, prevent it from growing at all. Start out with smaller levels of water and fertilizer introduction, and then build as you go.

Resources

• Gardening information from the National Gardening Association