Preparing your Garden for planting

Steps to Successful Gardening

Before planting a garden it is always important to map out where the garden is going to be.  The perfect location is

Cabbage-preparing-your-garden-for-planting
Cabbage

crucial because that will determine if your Garden will be successful or not. Be mindful to choose an area that is in a sunny location because plants need a considerable amount of sunlight in order to grow and survive. With good watering practices, your plants will be able to photosynthesize (the process of plants making food).

Start clearing away debris

After finding the perfect spot, you can begin clearing away any debris such as bottles, cans, big rocks at the soil’s surface, tree branches, and so on. It will also be great to get a soil test done to ensure that your soil meets your plants’ requirements.

Clear away weeds

When weeding always be sure to pull up the entire weed especially the roots because if the top part of the weed is taken out but the bottom is allowed to remain in the ground the weeds will spring back much faster. So make sure to remove the entire weed.

There are many ways to remove weeds. You can remove weeds by hand pulling, you can use a cutlass, use a garden hoe, or apply chemicals. Applying chemicals is a bit more dangerous and caution must be taken. Be sure to wear the right clothing i.e. chemical suit, gloves,  goggles, and respirator.

Read the label or direction and follow carefully because the label is the law.

N.B. Chemicals should not be used close to water bodies.

Tilling the soil

After removing all the weeds, it’s time to till the soil. Tilling the soil loosens it up making installing the plants easier but more importantly, the roots of the plants will establish more quickly. Also, water and fertilizer will travel much easier to the root zone where they are needed.

Amend the soil

It will also be a good idea to amend the soil with organic matter or you can start a compost pile.

To learn more about how to create a compost pile click this link compost pile.

This will further condition the soil to ensure your plants’ overall health and survival. Once you have added compost begin to grade the soil. You want to get it as even as possible so when you begin planting there are no uneven surfaces within your garden site.

Garden tools

These are some tools you will need :

1. Pick Ax.

2. Hard rake.

3. Cutlass.

4. Hoe.

5. Spade shovel.

6. Square mouth shovel.

7. Wheelbarrow.

8. Hard gloves.

9. Eye Goggles.

10. Grass rake.

If the area requires a lot of work you may need to take it in stages or get some persons to help out. Make sure to drink plenty of water and take breaks. Take it one step at a time and before you know it, your garden area will be ready for planting.

All that hard work including the exercise you get will pay off. So by giving nature a helping hand, you will reap the benefits BIG TIME.

And remember happy gardening!

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About the author

+ posts

Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.

6 thoughts on “Preparing your Garden for planting”

  1. Great read on preparing your garden for planting. I haven’t had that much experience gardening in my life, but I did used to work the yard at my grandparents so I do know a thing or two about maintaining a healthy grow. We have a garden out front that my mother mostly takes care of, and I think she would be interested to get a new perspective and new insights — I’ll be sure to send her the link to your page and your site. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Good morning Paul Thanks for the follow and for passing this information on to your mother, hopes she likes the site like you glad i can help. Have a nice day.

      Reply
  2. Interesting read! Me and my girlfriend actually made a vegetable patch a few months ago, it took us a long time to make, and it was really cool for a couple of weeks.
    But now we have just let it get over grown again, due to lack of time.
    One thing i noticed was that our veg was getting eaten by bugs and birds, can you suggest any ways to stop that happening?
    thanks

    Reply
    • Good morning James thanks for the follow, Now about those bugs that are bugging you. You can buy insecticidal dust from your garden center to treat the problem or to cost those bugs to bug off. And for those birds, you can have a bit of fun with them.You can buy Vinly ballons i think that i got the name right and make a scary face with them tie them to your garden post

      with strings, as the breeze gently blows the ballons that should give them a scare and cause them to take for cover.Or you can get a net install over your garden, just tie the net to the four post in your garden. Hopes this helps, again thanks for the follow and let me know how it goes.

      Reply
  3. It’s winter here so we can’t wait for spring. My wife Julie is the gardener in the family. We compost all year except for a couple of months in the winter.

    Your site has a lot of great tips and information.

    I noticed in a couple of places you used expressions like more quicker and more easier. you might want to change to more quickly or more easily.

    Your site looks good, Dave

    Reply

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