Fall’s a Good Time to Prepare Soil for Spring
Fall is not a season that usually inspires anyone to start a new garden or to enlarge an existing one. But when that first sprig of green breaks through the ground next spring, you might want to do just that.
So why not do it now instead, at a more leisurely pace? The soil is soft and moist and there’s plenty of time for a soil test to determine if fertilizer, limestone or sulfur is needed. Soil organisms will mellow soil prepared now.
A heavy clay soil or one with an impervious layer below the surface benefits from a thorough digging. Just turn the soil over with a spading shovel or fork. While you are at it, mix fertilizer along with leaves, sawdust, compost or straw into the soil. These organic materials help fluff up clay soils. No need to crumble the soil at this time. It will break up by itself through the winter, then need only a light raking in spring.
Take a few seconds to remove any tenacious weeds you encounter. Coax the taproot of thistle or dock out of the ground by pulling with one hand while using your other to lever the root up with a shovel. Follow the roots of quack grass and other creepers along the soil surface to draw up as much of their root systems as possible.
Raised beds are ideal for soils composed of heavy clay or large boulders, or if you have an extreme aversion to digging. Just lay a mix of organic materials and soil on top of the ground within board, brick or cinderblock enclosures. Keep the enclosures small enough so that you can reach into the beds’ middles without walking in them.
If your soil is sandy, no need to dig at all. A sprinkling of fertilizer topped by a thick layer of organic mulch to smother weeds is all that is needed to start a new bed. The advantage of doing this now rather than next spring is that earthworms will have all fall and winter to chew up the organic matter and churn it into the soil below.
Once new ground has been “broken,” keep an eye on the garden edges. Define them well with commercial barriers or a sharp cut in the grass. Then keep an eye out for weeds trying to sneak in later in the season.
