Get Your Garden Beds Ready for Planting

You've bought the plants. You've worked out where they're going. You're ready to get them in the ground.

This one's for the people who need to rev up their existing garden beds before you plant. Conditioning the soil first is one of those simple jobs that can make a big difference to how your plants get established.

And this isn't just a spring job.

Lime, Blood & Bone and Compost can all be part of your normal garden routine throughout the year. Think of it as your baseline - a simple way to look after your soil and get it ready for planting.

Video conditioning soil. Image is Copyright

Start with the soil

Existing garden beds are constantly changing. Plants are using nutrients, organic matter is breaking down, soil can become compacted, the soil dries out, and weeds can set in.

So before planting, give the soil a decent rev up.

Remove any weeds and clear away old plant material. If the soil is particularly compacted, gently loosen the surface with a fork, being careful around the roots of existing plants.

Then it's time to condition.

Conditioning your soil

Garden Lime

Lime is not a fertiliser. Instead, it serves the purpose of raising soil pH and adding calcium. Many soils in New Zealand are naturally acidic, and as organic matter, such as plant roots, decomposes, it can further contribute to soil acidity. Applying lime once or twice a year can be beneficial. By helping to adjust the soil pH to the appropriate range, lime enhances the availability of nutrients, making it easier for plants to access the fertilisers and nutrients they require for healthy growth.

Blood and Bone

Blood & Bone is a mild fertiliser that delivers essential nutrients to support plants. It serves as a fantastic base feed when getting an established garden bed ready for planting. This fertiliser encourages earthworm and microbial activity, which in turn helps your garden flourish. This is a natural source of nitrogen for vigorous plant growth and phosphorus for strong root formation.

Be sure to apply the product according to the recommended rate, ensuring it is evenly distributed throughout the planting area.

Compost

Compost functions primarily as a soil conditioner rather than a potting mix. While it enriches the soil, it is not suitable for direct planting due to its high nutrient content and lack of additional fertilisers. Instead, compost contributes valuable organic matter that enhances both the structure and overall health of your soil. One of the key benefits of compost is its ability to support soil life. It aids sandy soils in retaining moisture, while simultaneously improving the structure of heavier soils. If your garden has been neglected and is dry and dusty, incorporating a layer of compost can be particularly beneficial.

1. 

   A nice little tray of spinach. Image is Copyright

Mix it all through

Once you've added your compost, fertiliser and any other amendments, fork it all through the soil properly. You want everything mixed through the existing soil rather than sitting in separate layers. Once it’s forked through, your garden bed is ready for planting.

A word about bulk compost

If you're getting compost from a bulk yard and it’s hot and steaming, you can't plant into it the same day. Let it cool down first; I would give it about a week. Once it has cooled, fork it through the existing soil, and you're ready to plant.

You can add other fertilisers too.

These are your baseline additions, but you can absolutely add other fertilisers depending on what you're growing and the time of year. During winter, autumn and winter, this is all I use; sometimes I opt for sheep pellets instead of blood & bone.

In spring, you could avoid the blood & bone and add a vegetable granular fertiliser or something like Novatec and mix it thoroughly through the soil.

The important thing is to follow the application rates and check how long the fertiliser is designed to feed for. You don't want to be doubling up on fertilisers unnecessarily.

1. 

   Seedling Tray. Image is Copyright

One little trick I like

When planting vegetables, I often prefer to be precise with fertiliser application to ensure optimal growth.

For example, when planting tomatoes, I use a specialised tomato or vegetable potting mix, incorporating some directly into the planting hole. This initial step sets a solid foundation for the plant.

As the plant establishes itself and begins to grow, I adjust my feeding regimen accordingly. Specifically, once my tomatoes reach over a meter in height and the flowers start to appear, I switch to a targeted liquid fertiliser designed for fruiting plants.

This method allows me to avoid overwhelming the plant by trying to provide it with everything it might need from the very beginning. Instead, I focus on proper soil preparation initially and then modify my feeding strategy as the plant develops and its nutritional requirements evolve.

Glossary:

Fertiliser: A substance added to soil or plants to provide essential nutrients that promote growth and enhance crop yield.

Compost: A soil conditioner. A mixture of decayed plant matter, such as food scraps and yard waste, or animal waste, used to enrich soil and improve its structure, which is often purchased in bags or you can make your own. This is incorporated into your existing soil.

pH: pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It is a scale ranging from 0 to 14, where a pH of 7 is considered neutral, values below 7 indicate acidity, and values above 7 indicate alkalinity.

Soil: Often referred to as 'dirt' by some, it is a natural resource composed of minerals, organic matter, water, and air that supports plant life, which is found in the garden beds, or you can buy it in bags, which is called 'potting mix'. We never plant into straight 'topsoil ', which is for lawns.