If you’re getting ready to begin your new garden venture, you need to first prepare your soil to properly house the plants you plan to grow.

1. Preparing Healthy Soil For Your Garden withCool Garden Things www.CoolGardenThings.com

2. If you’re getting ready to begin your new garden venture, you need to first prepare your soil to properly house the plants you plan to grow. The best thing you can do in the soil preparation process is to reach the perfect mixture of sand, silt, and clay. Preferably there should be 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and 20 percent clay. www.CoolGardenThings.com

3. Choosing a Garden that is Perfect for You There are several tests used by experienced gardeners to tell whether the soil has a good composition or not. First you can compress it in your hand. If it doesn’t hold its shape and crumbles without any outside force, your sand ratio is probably a little high. If you poke the compressed ball with your finger and it doesn’t fall apart easily, your soil contains too much clay. www.CoolGardenThings.com

4. If you’re still not sure about the content of your soil, you can separate each ingredient by using this simple method. Put a cup or two of dirt into a jar of water. Shake the water up until the soil is suspended, then let it set until you see it separate into 3 separate layers. The top layer is clay, the next is silt, and on the bottom is sand. You should be able to judge the presence of each component within your dirt, and act accordingly. www.CoolGardenThings.com

5. So now that you’ve analyzed the content of your soil, if you decide that it is low on a certain ingredient then you should definitely do something to fix it. If you are dealing with too much silt or sand, it’s best to add some peat moss or compost to your mixture. If you’ve got too much clay, add a mixture of peat moss and sand. www.CoolGardenThings.com

6. The peat moss, when moistens, helps for the new ingredient to infiltrate the mixture better. If you can’t seem to attain a proper mixture, just head down to your local gardening store. You should be able to find the right kind of product to aid you in balancing this out. www.CoolGardenThings.com

7. Choosing a Garden that is Perfect for You Next... The water content of the soil is another important thing to consider when preparing for your garden. If your garden is at the bottom of an incline, chances are high that it is going to absorb too much water and may drown out the plants. One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden. It's definitely the most high-maintenance. One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden. It's definitely the most high-maintenance. www.CoolGardenThings.com

8. If this is the case, you should simply elevate your garden a few inches (4 or 5) higher than the rest of the ground. This allows for more drainage and less saturation. www.CoolGardenThings.com

9. Also, adding nutrients to your soil is a vital part of the process, as most urban soils have little to no nutrients left in them at this time in our history. So, one to two weeks prior to planting, you should add a decent amount of fertilizer to your garden. Mix it in really well and let it sit for a few days. Once you have done this, your soil will be completely ready for whatever seeds you choose to plant in it. www.CoolGardenThings.com

10. Once your seeds are planted, you still want to pay regular attention to the soil. During the first few weeks, the seeds are using up all the nutrients around them to sprout into a real plant. If they run out of food, how are they supposed to grow? www.CoolGardenThings.com

11. Choosing a Garden that is Perfect for You About a week after planting, you should add the same amount of fertilizer that you added before. After this you can continue to use fertilizer, but not as often. If you add a tiny bit every couple of weeks, that it usually plenty to keep your garden thriving and producing healthy plants. One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden. It's definitely the most high-maintenance. One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden. It's definitely the most high-maintenance. www.CoolGardenThings.com

12. So basically… The entire process of soil care can be compressed into a few simple steps… ensure the makeup of the soil is a good mixture, make sure you have proper drainage, add fertilizer before and after planting, then add fertilizer regularly after that. www.CoolGardenThings.com

13. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll have a plethora of healthy plants in no time at all. Thanks For Tuning In and Happy Gardening! www.CoolGardenThings.com