Mulch once the soil warms up

Two or three inches of straw or shredded leaves keeps soil moist, blocks weeds, and stops soil splashing onto leaves. Wait until the soil is warm for tomatoes and peppers, and keep mulch an inch back from the stems.

When: Spring

Mulch with grass clippings in thin layers

Spread them an inch deep and let each layer dry before adding more: thick, fresh piles turn slimy and smelly. Skip clippings from a lawn treated with weed killer, since some can harm tomatoes and beans even after composting.

When: Growing season

Keep wood chips on top, not dug in

Wood chips make great mulch for paths and around shrubs and perennials. Dug into the soil, they tie up nitrogen while they rot, and plants nearby turn pale and yellow.

Test before you fertilize

Without a test, you can't know what your soil needs, and too much fertilizer can hurt as much as too little. A home kit gives a quick read; your county extension office can do a full test for a small fee.

When: Fall

Dig less, and add compost on top

Turning the soil every year breaks down its crumbly structure and brings buried weed seeds up to sprout. Spread compost on top instead, and let worms and roots mix it in.

When: Fall, Spring

Make a new bed without digging →

Top your beds with compost every year

Spread an inch or two of compost on top each spring or fall. It feeds the soil, and it tops up beds as they settle.

When: Fall, Spring

How to start a compost pile →

Use aged or composted manure

Fresh manure can burn plants and can carry germs like E. coli. Use it composted, or spread fresh manure in fall so it has months to break down before spring planting. Never use dog or cat waste.

When: Fall

Save your fall leaves

Run over them with the mower to shred them, then bag them. They make free mulch, and they're the browns your compost pile will need all summer.

When: Fall

How to start a compost pile →

Plant a cover crop in fall

Sow cereal rye, oats, or crimson clover in empty beds after harvest. The roots hold the soil through winter, and in spring you cut them down to feed the soil.

When: Fall · For: Cereal rye (winter rye), Oats (cover crop), Crimson clover, Hairy vetch, Austrian winter peas

Cover crops in the Plant guide →

Move crop families every year

Pests and diseases build up in the soil. Don't plant tomatoes where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplant grew last year: they're one family and share the same problems.

When: Winter · For: Tomato family (nightshades), Cabbage family (brassicas), Squash family (cucurbits)

See your plots on the Garden map →

Never step in the beds

Walking on beds packs the soil and squeezes out the air roots need. Keep beds narrow enough to reach the middle, and walk on the paths.

Build a raised bed →

Don't dig wet soil

Squeeze a handful. If it stays in a sticky ball, wait a few days: digging wet soil makes hard clods that last all season. If it crumbles apart, it's ready.

When: Spring

Warm the soil for melons and peppers

Lay black plastic over the bed a week or two before planting, and cut holes to plant through. It warms the soil several degrees, so heat lovers like melons, peppers, and squash get off to a faster start.

When: Spring · For: Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Honeydew, Pepper, Hot pepper, Eggplant