Fix Your Garden Soil in 5 Easy Steps

Is your soil clumpy? Is it filled with rocks or unwanted debris? Here's how to fix your soil in five easy steps:

Step 1: Fix the soil you already have.
In most instances you are better off to work with your own soil rather than hauling in new soil. Hauled in soil may not be any better than that in your yard. It could be a source of noxious weeds that you don't have and start new problems in your garden.

Step 2: Solve the problem.
You can improve most soil by adding several inches of organic material, which is available at your local garden center. Keep in mind that you do not add organic material just once and then forget about it. Organic material is always decomposing and being used up, so you must replenish it at least once a season. If you have thin topsoil or extremely wet soil with high clay content, consider raised-bed gardening. If your garden is located on a hillside, build terraces to level the ground and help prevent erosion.

Step 3: Till it under
Once you've added organic matter, it's time to till the material into the soil. You can till either by hand or with an electric or gas-powered tiller. If you decide to use a tiller, here's how to do it:
•Set your tiller at a medium depth.
•Make parallel passes back and forth with the tiller.
•Change to the tiller's deepest setting and switch directions, so that you are tilling perpendicular to the previous direction.
•Continue until the soil and organic material are mixed together.

Step 4: Let it rest
Take a break. The ground needs to rest for several days so decomposition can begin.