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Planting Soil - Preparing Soil for Planting

Are you prepared to start doing the landscaping for your garden? Before you begin planting, you must prepare the soil. Read this article for tips on how to prepare the soil for your flowers, plants and seeds.

Before planting flowers, plants, or seeds, you should always make sure the soil has been prepared properly. The amount of preparation that needs to be done will depend on how good or bad the soil is.

Testing the Soil

Laboratories can perform soil tests that will evaluate the condition of your planting soil. A soil test can determine what, if any, minerals should be added to your soil. The test can also check for other potential soil problems, such as salinity or acidity. To get your soil tested, call your local extension office. If you would rather perform the test yourself, purchase a home testing kit made specifically for testing planting soils.

Removing Weeds

After testing the soil, you will want to remove any weeds that have grown in the planting area. When pulling weeds, be sure to remove the entire root system. This will prevent weeds from returning.

If there are too many weeds to pull, you can use a chemical weed killer. After applying the weed killer, allow the chemicals to completely break down in the soil before planting. This could take anywhere from two to five full days.

Add Nutrients to the Soil

To improve the quality of your soil, you can add a variety of minerals and nutrients. A soil test will be very important in determining what type of materials should be added your soil.

Here are some of the most common soil amendments:

  • Fertilizers or Plant Food (nutrients for the soil)
  • Gypsum (type of soil that improves clay-like soil structure)
  • Lime (mineral)
  • Organic Matter (peat moss or compost)

Tilling the Soil

After you have evenly spread materials over the planting area, you will need to till the soil to make sure everything is properly mixed. Tilling will also help to loosen the soil and increase aeration, improving drainage and root growth. When the soil has been sufficiently tilled, use a garden rake to smooth out the planting area.

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