How to Prepare Your Garden for Summer

Spring is in full swing and it's almost time to get those starter plants and seeds into the ground. Here are a few things you can do to get your garden spot ready for a productive season.

1. Clear the area. Over the winter months, your garden has probably collected debris that needs to be removed before you get started with working the ground. Remove all sticks, twigs, garbage, etc. Also, the wet spring weeks are the best time to pull weeds and brush that grew up toward the end of last year's growing season. The ground is soft and the dead growth is brittle, so get to work removing everything that is dead or a weed. After you are done, if you do not need to till, rake the entire area. After you have raked you will be able to pick out areas in which grass clods or root systems have grown. Remove these.

2. Fertilize and till. If you tilled your garden in the fall, you should not have to do it again. However, if you haven't, now is the time to lay down manure or your fertilizer of choice and work it into the soil. This will provide a strong nutrient base for healthy plants, as well as restore the nutrients your vegetables took from the soil the previous year. If you have already tilled, use gloves to work fertilizer in by hand where you will be planting.

3. Lay down weed barriers. If you have a small patch that you enjoy weeding by hand, you can skip this step. However, if you have a large garden that cannot be weeded by hand, lay down a barrier to keep weeds to a minimum. You can use newspaper, cardboard, black plastic or even carpet to lay down between your rows of plants. While using weed barriers may not make your garden particularly attractive, it will greatly reduce the amount of time you spend on your hands and knees working towards healthy plants. Some gardeners choose to cover their entire garden with one of these barriers, then cut holes in which thy place their plants. If you go this route, be sure to cut a large enough hole so that water from rain can make its way to the roots.

4. Collect leaves for compost. If you don't want to pay for compost, rake up remaining leaves around your yard, house or outbuildings. After you have planted, lay a thick layer of the partially decomposed leaves around the plant. This will provide another deterrent for weeds, while sealing moisture into the dirt.

5. Fence the area. Be sure to place a fence around your garden before you place any of your plants outside. You have worked too hard to lose a healthy plant to animals at this point. Check your fence to ensure there aren't any spaces through which a rabbit can squeeze.

Once you have completed the above steps, you are ready to get your garden in full swing. Enjoy this year's growing season!