Now that spring has officially begun, it’s time to start thinking about gardening! Although there are many theories on what makes up the best soil mixture, this is a tried and true form in this neck of the woods. You will need to ensure that you have a good mixture of sand, silt, and clay. Personally, I use 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and 20 percent clay. I was always taught that a good soil mixture will hold it’s shape if you press it into your hand and try to form a ball. If you find that your ball crumbles before your eyes, you most likely have too much sand in your mix. If the ball holds it shape very well and won’t crumble when you poke it with your finger, your soil likely has too much clay.

Another neat trick I have picked up along my journey is to put a cup or two of sand from your garden into a jar of water. Shake the jar until all the soil is suspended in the water. As it settles, you’ll see 3 separate layers – the top layer will be your clay, the next layer is the silt, and the bottom layer is the sand. This will give you a good idea of what’s in your soil now and if necessary you can take steps to correct any problems.

For example, if you have too much silt or sand in your garden, you can add some peat moss or compost to the mix. If there is too much clay, then adding both peat moss and sand to the garden should fix it nicely.

Another consideration to keep in mind when preparing your soil is the water content. You will need to take steps if your garden should fall in a less than desirable place in your yard. For instance, if it’s at the bottom of an incline, it will likely absorb way too much water and drown your plants. You can alleviate the problem by raising the garden a few inches above the rest of the ground to allow for better drainage.

Adding nutrients to the soil is also going to be a vital part of starting your garden. Urban soils today have almost no nutrients in them naturally. A few weeks prior to planting your garden, you should add some fertilizer to the garden. Be sure to mix this into the soil already in your garden very well.

Once the seeds are planted, you will still need to monitor your soil. In the first few weeks after the seeds are planted, they are soaking up all the nutrients around them in order to sprout out of the ground. If they run out of food, they may not grow as tall or strong as they should. You can check with your nursery for specifics on your plants, but generally you should add fertilizer to the garden a week or so after planting the seeds. You will continue to fertilize throughout the growing season, but not nearly as much as in the first few weeks. I generally add a small amount of fertilizer every 3-4 weeks after the initial planting.

Taking a trip into the nursery with a soil sample and layout of your yard will be a great learning experience. The nursery staff are very knowledgable and can explain what plants should go where in your yard.

As an added bonus – gardening can burn approximately 230-350 calories per hour!