Every successful garden starts with good soil. If your garden's soil is inadequate, even Herculean efforts won�t be able to produce a high-yielding or attractive garden space. As such, it is necessary to prepare your soil properly before planting. Consider these helpful hints to direct your soil preparation efforts.

Soil Testing

Soil testing is the most important part of preparation. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most neglected processes. Too many novice gardeners incorrectly believe that "dirt is dirt" and that a little fertilizer combined with some soil will produce results. This is not the case.

One can either test the soil themselves using readily available kits sold at home and garden stores, or they can take a portion of their garden area to a soil lab for examination. Either way, the cost will be relatively low–usually under ten dollars. A professional tester will be able to give you more information and more accurate data, but many have found that do-it-yourself kits are adequate for most home gardens.

Testing will provide you with some valuable information, including the pH level of your soil. The information you obtain from testing will direct many other aspects of preparation, including which (if any) fertilizers or soil additives you will need to incorporate into your garden.

Tilling

If your garden plan involves digging a few holes in the lawn and dropping in a few tomato plants, you are unlikely to end up with anything more than a few dead tomato plants. Soil tilling is critical to garden success. Good garden soil is loose enough to easily allow for plant and root growth.

Hand-tilling is possible, but most find that a motorized tiller will do a much better job of preparing the area for gardening–without backbreaking labor. Purchasing a tiller will probably not be necessary, as many companies make rental units available at reasonable per-hour and daily rates.

One wants to break the soil into smaller, manageable bits. There is some risk to over-tilling, as you may end up creating an area that turns to mud when watered if you break the ground into too-small pieces. Ask for a bit of direction with respect to desired tilling depth and soil consistency from an expert.

Additives

Your soil testing will let you know what kind of additives you may want to place in your garden. Your pH level may be inappropriate, necessitating an intervention to get it into workable condition. Make additions based on expert recommendations if you are unsure of what you need to do.

Almost all gardens can benefit from the addition of compost or other purely organic substances. This humus matter makes soil more absorbent and "lighter." Consult with your soil tester or an experienced gardener for precise directions.

If your soil is poor, your garden will fail. Good gardens grow out of good soil. That is why it is important to take the time and to make the effort to prepare your soil before planting the year's first seedling. Soil testing, tilling and the introduction of appropriate additives are key aspects to successful soil preparation.