The Soil in the Flower Bed: Preparation and Care

If you want to create a new flower bed, first plan its appearance. Then, it's time for gardening. To ensure everything goes well, the soil must be carefully prepared.

A beautiful flower bed in the garden ensures a colorful gardening season. For your plants to grow well, you need to not only find the right location but also adjust the soil conditions. Most flower bulbs prefer their soil to be nutrient-rich and loose.

Once you’ve decided how your future flower bed should look, it’s time to prepare the soil. To work as precisely as possible, first mark the outlines. In the marked area, begin digging. This is especially important if you're working on a patch of lawn or a previously unused garden area, particularly with very compacted soil. Effective digging is only possible on open ground, meaning during frost-free weather. While digging with a spade is fairly easy, it’s best to remove weeds with a digging fork. Any other roots, stones, and other obstructions should be removed at the same time. Afterward, you can add nutrients to the soil.

Every garden soil is different, so before planting flower bulbs, you should check the composition of the soil in your bed. If it’s very sandy, there may be too much dryness. As a result, water drains too quickly, and the plants don’t get enough of it. In this case, improving the soil means mixing it with heavy clay soil. This way, nutrients won’t drain away, and the plants won’t stay thirsty. Conversely, a clay soil should be loosened with sand. You can add extra nutrients with autumn leaves and compost. These materials can be used as a mulch layer to cover the newly prepared bed. Compost is also an excellent component for further improving neutral soil.

Most bulb and tuber plants require well-drained soil. They are sensitive to waterlogging, as it causes them to rot quickly. So, make sure to use a spade carefully, and don’t be stingy with compost. A loose soil is better than a heavy one. The depth at which the bulbs are planted depends on the soil’s density. A common rule is to plant them at a depth two to three times their diameter. If the soil is very loose, the bulbs need to be planted deeper, while for firmer soil, they should sit more shallowly. For extra security, you can use a planting basket, which is best placed on a bed of gravel. This will keep harmful rodents like voles from nibbling on the bulbs. Once the soil is well-prepared, nothing will stand in the way of your floral wonder!