Gardening Tip: Prepare Your Soil for Spring Planting

Gardening Tip

Miracle-Gro:

Whether you're planting a whole new landscape bed, a single shrub,
or a flat of annuals, properly preparing the soil will help your plants
grow faster, stronger, and healthier. You can begin improving your
soil as soon as it's workable in spring. (Quick test: Your soil is workable
when a handful of soil doesn't stick together in a clump.)

Add Organic Materials to the Soil

Organic matter breaks up clay soil, adds substance to sandy
soil, and provides the porosity that's needed to encourage your
plants' root systems. You can't have a healthy plant without a
good root system, and soil with proper porosity will:

- Make more oxygen available to plants' roots
- Reduce runoff compared to hard, crusty soil
- Allow more water and nutrients to reach the roots
- Encourage roots to spread out and develop into a sturdy
underground network

How to Do It

Add organic materials by spreading them over the top of a
bed, then turning or tilling them in—or by mixing them with
soil removed from planting holes before backfilling around transplants.

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This gardening tip is brought to you by Miracle Gro