Whether you want to grow vegetables and herbs, flowers, or both, you can’t succeed without well-prepared soil. It’s the foundation for a healthy garden, and the most important ingredient in the success of any plant.

The first step is to how do you prepare ground for a garden what you’re going to grow and how big your garden will be. If you’re a beginner, start small until you feel more confident in your abilities. Once you’ve settled on a planting site, clear away grass and weeds from the proposed garden bed. You can either dig them out by hand or use a lawn mower with the blade set to the highest setting (to avoid cutting up roots). Alternatively, cover the area with black sheeting during the summer to suppress and kill weeds.

Groundwork for Success: Steps to Prepare Your Garden’s Ground for Planting

Next, loosen the soil in your new beds to a depth of at least 8 inches (12 is better) so that vegetable and flower roots can grow easily into it. To do this, you can use a rototiller or dig by hand. Be sure to check with utility companies before digging to ensure there are no pipes or electrical lines underground in the area where you plan to plant.

When you’re done, sift through the loosened soil to make sure there are no rocks or debris and that it’s rich in organic matter (humus). Thoroughly wet a sample of your soil and squeeze it in your hand. If the soil forms a tight ball and feels slippery, it’s clay. Sandier soil feels gritty and crumbles when you try to hold it in your hand. Good garden soil is loamy—it contains equal parts sand, silt, and clay, and holds moisture and allows oxygen to reach plant roots.

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