Every spring, we all get the urge to start planting flowers around the house. For the home gardener, it’s a way to celebrate the end of winter and an excuse to play outside in the sunshine.
But before any of the fun stuff happens – the planting, mulching, and watering – first comes the grungy job of preparing the soil.
An experienced gardener knows the quality of your foliage depends on your prep work. If you don’t properly prepare the soil, your plants won’t be as healthy as they should.
Prepping the soil takes effort. It requires getting down and dirty with the earth: crawling through the flower bed, pulling weeds out by the roots, and clearing out all of the debris cluttering the area.
Then you dig in and turn the soil with a spading fork. After that you finish crumbling the soil with a cultivator, then you rake it into a smooth bed. Now you are ready to plant.
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