Take advantage of the cooler fall temperatures to revive tired planting beds or start new gardens. Creating a garden bed of nutrient rich well drained soil helps you grow healthy plants that are better able to tolerate environmental stresses and pest problems. This means you’ll expend less time and effort keeping your plants and gardens looking their best.
What You Need
- Size of garden bed(s) you’re creating or amending
- Multiply the length times width of the bed to calculate square feet
- Look up when planning your garden to avoid conflicts with overhead utilities
- Call 811 at least 3 business days before putting the first shovel in the ground
- This free service contacts utility providers who will come out and mark the location of underground utilities in your work area
- Soil Amendments such as Compost, Compost-Manure, or Peat Moss
- Check the bag as many tell you how much you’ll need
- For adding a 2” depth of Peat Moss you’ll need
- 1 cubic foot bale for 12 square feet
- 2 .2 cubic feet bale covers 25 square feet
- 3.8 cubic feet covers 45 square feet
- For adding 2″ depth of Compost or Compost Manure, apply about 16 cubic feet/100 square feet of garden.
- Shovel or tiller (rent or borrow one if needed
- Cordless drill and Auger bit if vertical mulching existing garden beds.
How to Amend New Planting Bed
- Remove existing weeds and sod
- Use a shovel or sod cutter to remove grass
- Use this sod to patch bare areas in the lawn
- Or add it green side down to the compost pile
- Remove weeds
- Dig or pull weeds, roots and all
- Or treat with a total vegetation killer
- Read and follow all label directions
- Use a shovel or sod cutter to remove grass
- Add soil amendments once weeds and grass are gone
- Set bagged material on the soil surface throughout the garden
- Slice open the bag and pour the contents over the soil surface
- Use a iron rake to evenly distribute the amendment throughout the garden
- Dig or till the amendment into the top 8 of 12” of garden soil
- Rake the Garden bed smooth and allow to settle
- Now you are ready to plant
Amending Soil when planting individual Plants into Existing Gardens
- Mix several inches of compost into the top 8 -12” of soil where you are planting
- Dig a hole at least twice as wide and the same depth as the plant’s container
- Set the plant in the hole at the same depth it was growing in the container
- Water thoroughly and often enough to keep roots slightly moist
- Gradually reduce watering frequency to encourage deep roots
Vertical Mulch Existing Perennial Beds and Mixed Borders
This is a great technique to use on existing gardens that are struggling but are not bad enough to start over
- Rake aside mulch if needed
- Spread a 1 to 2” layer of compost over the soil surface
- Earthworms and ground beetles will move it into the garden soil
- Drill holes in soil with an auger bit used for planting bulbs
- Scatter drill holes throughout the garden bed
- You’ve just aerated and amended the garden bed
- Replace mulch as needed
Amending Annual Beds for Spring Planting
Get a jump-start on next season with a bit of fall soil preparation
- Remove any dead plants and weeds
- Shred fall leaves with mower and spread over the soil surface of the garden
- Add a layer of compost or compost-manure for greater impact
- Till the leaves and soil amendment into the top 8 to 12” of soil
- Mulch the soil surface with shredded leaves, straw or other material to prevent soil erosion
Watch Melinda Myers’ video ‘Working with the Clay Soil You’ve Got’ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAWEcudoFE for more tips.
Written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers. Melinda Myers is a nationally recognized gardening expert with more than 30 years of horticulture experience. She is a wealth of knowledge and we are pleased to share Melinda’s Gardening How-To with you!
