After removing grass and weeds, loosen the soil and add organic matter to the flower bed. Soil preparation is the most important step to growing beautiful flowers.
Once you have killed, removed or smothered the existing vegetation (see Clearing A Flower Bed), you can begin to work the soil or loosen the soil and prepare the flower bed area for planting flowers. This can be done with a tiller or by hand using a spade and garden fork. If the soil is very compacted or has never been worked, you may want to rent a large, powerful tiller to do the initial passes. Thereafter, a lightweight tiller or a spade should be sufficient. After the first year, you should not need to till the soil again.
How Deep to Loosen Soil
For annual flowers, loosen the soil down at least six inches, for perennial flowers with their deeper root systems, ten inches is better. Break up big clods, remove larger rocks and any roots as you go.
Add Organic Matter to Flower Bed Soil
Now the most important step: Work in organic matter such as compost, well rotted stable manure and bedding, rotted down autumn leaves, or whatever organic material you have available locally and at a reasonable cost. A layer several inches thick is not too much to add at one time, and a six inch layer is better. Organic matter is the best amendment you can use to improve either a clay soil or a sandy soil. It is easier to add organic matter now, before you plant, than at any other time.
The organic matter will help keep the soil both aerated and moist all season as well as help feed the soil slowly as it breaks down over time. Plant roots grow best in well prepared soil, and the better the roots the better the overall growth and flowering performance. So don't skimp on this critical step. More on Adding Organic Matter
How to Prepare Clay Soil For Planting Flowers
If you have heavy clay soil, you might also add a small amount of coarse builder's type sand or fine grit. But add this only in addition to the organic matter. Without organic matter, sand plus clay yields brick when dried!
Remove Stones: Planting in Rocky Soil
Rocky soil is not necessarily bad but it can be difficult to work it when your shovel bounces off the stones. You'll probably want to remove anything the size of a potato or larger. If you use a tiller, you may have to remove smaller stones as well. Raking and hand picking are the two main ways of removing stones and rocks.
Shallow Soil - Raised Planting Beds
If you have bed rock or ledge with just a shallow layer of soil on top of it, you may want to build some raised beds so your plants will have deeper soil for their roots. I'll write more about raised garden beds later because using raised beds is a project that can be as simple or as complex as you care to make it. Here we go: How to Plan and Construct Raised Beds
The copyright of the article Prepare Soil to Grow Flowers in Flower Gardens is owned by Barbara M. Martin. Permission to republish Prepare Soil to Grow Flowers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Barbara, I'm looking for a relatively easy method of preventing weeds in my
flower bed right now, before the season gets too far along. My perennial
bed has crocus, daffodils, hyacinth and tulips, even one or two Allium.
Right next to it is a very old Peony bed. I have not removed the winter's
mulch of leaves yet, as we will have snow this week (still.) But most of
the bulbs are sprouted and the crocus has bloomed.
Last year I
used a mild weed-killer and put down a heavy layer of wood chips around the
bed between the plants, but the weeds still came up and I finally lost the
battle by the end of the summer.
The bed was prepared to prevent
squirrels from digging up the bulbs: chicken wire over the bulbs and
covered with soil. So I can't do too much digging down into the bed.
With my arthritis, it's very hard to spend time pulling weeds!
Apr 5, 2006 7:53 AM
Barbara M. Martin :
This is such a great question and you are right, it's never too early to
think about weed control proactively.
Did you rou read my
mind?! Toward the end of my "starting from scratch" series I do
have a thing planned on early season weed control, and then eventually, a
weed control emergency plan for later in summer. (Because we all go on
vacation or life happens or whatever. Weeds happen.)
Sometimes
an established bed becomes infested with perennial weeds, these can be
harder to control than annual weeds like crabgrass. And sometimes the
problem is a combination of annuals and perennials. Do you know what
kind(s) of weeds you have predominently?
Also, can you tell me
what you used as a "mild herbicide" I am not sure if maybe you
mean you used a pre-emergent or maybe something like vinegar for spot
treatments or ????
Last but not least, does your
"perennial bed" have perennial flowers in addition to the bulbs,
or is it just all bulbs? I don't need a list, if it's perennials plus
bulbs, just a yes or no. LOL (Laugh out Loud)
There are some
different strategies you can use, but it does help to know what you are
dealing with beforehand.
Thanks!!!
Apr 7, 2006 10:49 AM
Barbara Bell :
The bed is just bulbs. I occasionally plant impatiens or marigolds but did
not for the last two years.
The weed killer was Weed-B-Gon. I
didn't use much, just followed directions for small areas.
I
don't know the names of the weeds, unfortunately, but some seemed to be
runner-types. Others resembled Queen Annes lace but wasn't. I learn
flowers, not weeds! LOL!
Apr 7, 2006 11:51 AM
Barbara M. Martin :
I'm all for less work! We've got better things to do than mess around with
weeds.
The mulch should be holding down weeds, but if you have
perennial weeds they may come up through it. And seeds can also blow in
from wherever. Rotted down old mulch is a great seedbed. And sometimes
mulch itself has weed seeds in it. Bleck.
First off you do have
to allow the bulb foliage to grow and mature, ripen and yellow, and go
dormant. So you do have to wait a bit before you can remove that foliage.
(If you remove it too soon your bulbs won't bloom next spring.)
You might be able to prevent some of the new weeds that grow from seed by
just raking the old mulch early in the season (before the bulbs are up) and
then spreading a pre-emergent on top of the bed. Corn gluten is a good one
to use. It only stops seeds so it should be fine around the bulbs. To get
good coverage you need to sprinkle it before the bulbs grow their foliage
too much.
It should be put down about when the forsythia bloom
in your area, that is when the crabgrass for example starts to germinate!
If you use another pre-emergent product, read the label carefully or check
with the manufacturer to make sure it is ok to use around bulbs.
Later on, once you've taken away the bulb foliage, mow or weed whack very
short any tall weeds and rake aside the old mulch. Then place overlapping
sheets of newspaper (about ten sheets thick, dampen it to keep it from
blowing around while you work) or use biodegradable mulching paper from the
garden center to cover the bed. This will exclude light and should slow
down any weeds that want to come up.
Then either compost your
old mulch or spread it back on the bed. Top that with a layer of fresh
mulch that is hopefully weed free. You want your mulch to be at least four
inches thick, more is fine too.
Rake the mulch periodically to
disturb any weed seeds that may try to grow, this will also fluff it up a
bit. Keep it topped up to about four inches thick all summer. This should
smother the weeds.
If big old perennial weeds resurface
(pokeweed for example will come up through all that!) you can spot treat
with an herbicide containing glyphosate. Glyphosate is indiscriminate and
will work on both grasses and broadleafed weeds -- and anything else such
as flowers, so be careful! Not all weed killers will kill grass type
plants.
Be sure to read and follow all of the label directions
carefully. Do not cut the weed back, you need foliage to absorb the her
Apr 8, 2006 7:49 AM
Barbara M. Martin :
I just want to clarify that the above is for this year to try to get the
weeds under control. In subsequent years, do not rake in the spring. Just
sprinkle your pre-emergent on the surface.
After the bulb
foliage has died down, fluff your mulch and add to it to make the layer
between two and three inches thick. Do that periodically through the season
as it tends to settle and also breaks down slowly over time.
A
layer two to three inches thick should be fine for the winter. If you have
autumn leaves that land there, that is fine. A possible exception might be
a dense layer of leaves that turn into a solid mat such as maple leaves,
these can be raked off in the fall. Leaves that stay stiff such as oak
leaves will not harm them.
The following spring, the mulch will
have settled a bit due to winter snow and rain and the bulbs should be able
to come up through it just fine. Sprinkle your preemergent, wait to add
more mulch until after the bulbs are gone.
With a bed such as
this, it is best to use a medium to fine textured mulch such as shredded
bark or pine fines. The very large nuggets are better for use around
shrubs. The larger particles take longer to decay but would be heavier for
the bulbs to wiggle up through.
I hope this works for you!
Jan 18, 2007 10:00 AM
Dan Ross :
with a three to four inch layer of mulch you'll not have any, or very few
weeds, it also insulates the soil and holds in water.
Use a
native tree shredded mulch or shredded cedar for the best results.
Apr 3, 2006
