Preparing the soil for outdoor seedlings

Whatever method you select for your seedlings, it is important to remember the crucial step, soil preparation. There are two periods that are particularly favorable for this chore, the fall, when the leaves are on the ground, or the spring, after the soil becomes dry enough to be worked. By delaying soil preparation until the last thaw, to the end of May for many gardeners, not only is it too late for seed planting, even for outdoor, quick-growth seedlings, but also, you may be caught up in a whirlpool of activities, since there is so much to do in the garden during this period.

Preparing soil for seedlings in a flower or vegetable garden is not complicated. Here's how.
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1. Add compost
2. Spread the compost
3. Add fertilizer
4. Turn the soil
5. Level the soil

1. Add compost

Pour compost over the soil surface.

When you prepare soil for seedlings, you can try peat moss instead of compost. But be warned, while peat moss improves soil texture, it does not improve soil fertility. Therefore, it will be necessary to add more biological, slow-release fertilizer such as blood flour or bone meal to the soil surface. Make sure to follow the instructions on the bags.

2. Spread the compost

Spread the compost with a rake. A layer of 5 to 8 cm, applied every year, transforms the poorest clayey or sandy soil into a rich growing medium in only a few years.

3. Add fertilizer

To improve soil fertility, add a slow release biological fertilizer like blood flour or powdered bone.

4. Turn the soil

Turn the soil over with a spade or a shovel, mixing the soil, compost and fertilizer well as you go. If you do this in the spring, break up the larger clumps with a spade or a shovel.

It isn't necessary to break up the clumps in the fall. The repeated action of freezing and thawing will do the job for you - at no charge and with no effort on your part - over the winter.

While you turn over the soil, pull out all the weeds, particularly the perennials with running roots such as horsetail and couch grass, which cause many problems in gardens and flowerbeds.

5. Level the soil

The day before planting the first seeds, level the soil with a rake. It is important that the soil be level, for garden-grown seedlings because if the surface is uneven, the seed can be washed away by rain or watering.
You are now ready to sow in your garden and flowerbeds.

Happy gardening!
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