Soil Building Can Be Made Easy, Sort Of

Doing something about the soil in your garden is not most people’s idea of a weekend project. Those who have done it know it is a massive undertaking and, if asked, would probably compare it to the building of the Pyramids or the Panama Canal. Much moving of earth is required and much of it must be done by hand. But if you are serious about gardening, you will tie a bandanna around your forehead and get to work, because soil preparation is the foundation of any garden.

There is a way to make it weekend work. As the Egyptians did with the pyramids, you build up the soil one block at a time. Right off, you can forget about much of the garden because most trees and shrubs, and even many ground covers (lawns excluded), don’t need much in the way of soil preparation.

What does are the flower beds and the vegetable garden. In these beds, the better the soil, the better the flowers or vegetables. Once the soil is properly prepared, the weeding, watering and replanting of these beds will be much easier. The time spent is well invested.

This weekend, you might tackle just one bed of reasonable size, something you can hope to finish in time for the fall planting of flowers, bulbs or vegetables--say, a bed measuring 4 by 25 feet. That adds up to a nice round 100 square feet.

Water Ahead of Time

First, water the bed so the soil will be moist when you begin to work it. Dry soil or soggy soil is impossible to properly prepare. Depending on your soil, you may have to water--thoroughly (an hour or more)--two to four days in advance. That’s how long it takes to dry up enough to be just moist, like good cake.

This means you can’t do the work this weekend, unless you happen to have watered thoroughly sometime midweek. Unfortunately the tropical rain we had midweek didn’t count because it only wet the soil on the surface. To find out if the soil is ready to dig, do this simple test: Dig up a spadeful and squeeze some into a ball in your hand. If it crumbles when you relax your grip, it is just right, not too wet or too dry. All soil, no matter how clayey, reaches this magic point at some degree of moistness.

You can gather the ingredients this weekend, water during the week and be ready to roll next weekend. The ingredients for one 4-by-25-foot bed are: four three-cubic-foot sacks of soil amendment, 10 pounds of gypsum and two pounds of a complete granular fertilizer.

Soil amendments are organic byproducts such as ground bark, sawdust and the like. They are sold under many brand names and in many formulations, but their job is to help separate the particles of soil so air and water can more easily penetrate. Steer manure is not a soil amendment, nor are potting mixes.

Soil amendments are not fertilizers, so you need to add fertilizer as well. Any cheap granular type will do.

Sand: No Gypsum

If you happen to garden in a sandy soil, you should still add the soil amendments and the fertilizer, but not the gypsum. In sandy soil, the organic amendments will help hold onto moisture and fertilizer which otherwise pass through too quickly.

Now for the heavy work (tie on that bandanna). Using a flat-bladed spade (not a shovel), dig up the bed to a depth of a foot. Work on a row at a time--plunge in the spade, lift up the soil and put it back in the hole, on its side. Then do the same right next door, and so on down the row. Take a break, admire your handiwork, and then tackle the next row, working so you face the row just finished.

The soil is now broken up and ready for amending. This part of the job can be done with a spade or, better yet, a small power tiller.

Dig or till the entire bed, this time breaking up all clods and generally pulverizing the soil so it begins to look like potting soil. Now evenly spread the amendments, gypsum and fertilizer on top, using a rake to spread it out evenly. Mix it in with a spade or tiller. It must be thoroughly mixed or it will do no good. You should not be able to tell amendment from soil, and the whole bed should look like you replaced the dirt with potting mix. It will be fluffy and higher than it was, so you should rake it smooth and then walk on it to flatten it down. In time it will recompact to its original level or a little higher, but that will help drain off excess water.

It’s a big weekend project to be sure, but worth every minute.