Hi, I recently moved into a new home that has two garden beds. I never gardened before but I figured this would be a great opportunity.
The beds are filled and have some weeds. Obviously, I know I have to remove the weeds and their roots but beyond that I don’t know what to do to get these beds ready for planting.
Should I remove the soil and put fresh soil in? Should I just mix it up? Honestly, no clue.
Thank you! I appreciate any tips or suggestions this community can offer.
Gardening Zone 7B
by anubis3669
14 Comments
Ooooooo fun!!! Lets go! Add Compost compost compost! Others will chime in im sure.
Great score!
The first thing to think about is what do you enjoy eating. I think gardening is always most satisfying when you grow stuff you want to eat. Then research planting dates and spacing requirements.
Go to your local garden store or nursery and see what’s available. I strongly suggest starting with what’s called “starts,” which are plants that have already been developed a bit. It’s much easier than planting with seeds.
Also, buy a bag or two of compost to spread over your beds before planting. You may also want to get a bag of mulch, most likely straw but wood chips (and not those fake plastic ones!) can work.
Keep the soil you have. Get a few bags of compost, i would buy aged manure and mix into it. These beds tend to dry out quickly so whatever you plant, keep it watered. I put grass clipping on mine (as long as you don’t use herbicides)
Compost on top. Even if you’re not planting until spring- especially if you aren’t, drop a few bags of some good compost (mushroom or otherwise) on top. I also cover my raised beds with leaves or straw for the winter.
In the spring, I pull off the layer of straw (or leaves) and then lightly cover it with some of the material, but with a good amount of soil showing. The soil needs to see the sun to warm up.
I add more mulch at the height of summer to keep moisture in the bed.
Consider throwing some compost bins in your yard if you have the space and interest. Creating your own compost is easy and cheap.
Add compost and shredded leaves now, so stuff can break down and feed the soil over winter. I wouldn’t do anything else with it now, no need to replace the soil or turn it or anything.
Figure out what you want to plant in it next year when temperatures get warmer. Peas can be a great early crop that also enhance the soil. Add some inoculant if you do. Spinach is another lovely thing to grow in spring.
Once spring comes, add some more compost. If you direct sow peas, just make sure you don’t cover them too deep with the compost. For the rest of the year, plant whatever you want and observe how things go. Then based on that you may want to do a soil test or add some fertilizer, etc.
Use your first year as a trial and error and learning opportunity, and most importantly , have fun with it 🙂
I suggest making an herb garden. You get a lot of satisfaction from growing your own food, but it’s way easier as you can add them to whatever you usually cook, and many are hardy perennials that will live for years in your zone. Rosemary, thyme, Italian parsley, chives, garlic chives, and sage are all super easy and satisfying for a beginning gardener. You can add more tender herbs in the spring like cilantro and basil. What others am I missing, friends?
I’m with everyone else. Although, I would pull out whatever is growing in there right now, unless you know that it’s something that you would want growing in there. Then I would cover with compost and some shredded leaves to tuck it in for the winter. If the soil looks dry, I would water it thoroughly before adding the compost and leaf mulch (it will also make pulling the weeds a lot easier). You will also want to water down the leaves once you add them. It helps to keep them from blowing away.
Now is the time you can start researching how to grow different plants. And if you’re interested, you can learn how to start your own seeds indoors. My favorite part of this time of year is when my seed magazines start to come in. I already have one for 2026! Happy growing!! 🌱
I think I’ve had dreams like this…
I would do a good weeding. nettles, etc have grown in or nearby in the last few years. I would wait to amend until you know if anything was still in there or dig down while weeding so you would know if bulbs or rhizomes were in there.
Lucky you!
Don’t replace the soil. Just aerate it with a garden fork, take out any weeds/big rocks you might find, and work in some compost. Happy gardening!
I don’t believe in bare soil. Cover with new growth, leave the weeds in, drop leaves on top, cardboard mulch, etc
I would get a LARGE tarp laid out next to the beds. Do one at a time and remove 2/3 of the dirt. Looks like it could use some peat, pearlite, and compost. Top dressed with heavy all purpose fertilizer and cover with straw or leaves for the rest of winter. This should set up your beds for a phenomenal season next yr.
Quality boxes, aerate, and fill that sucker with compost.
Add cardboard then compost on top for winter & weed suppression but before that – take some rebar or a rigid stick & poke holes every 6” to a foot, all the way down to the bottom. Run a soaker hose on top or at least take a few days out of the next couple weeks deeply watering the beds. Soil compression can make pockets that won’t get any water, resulting in some unexplained lack of growth next growing season. Once the cardboard & compost is laid, that watering will help good soil bacteria & fungi thrive over the next few months resulting in better soil versus just the cardboard & compost on top without watering. You can also poke similar holes in the cardboard/compost come spring, if you do that now though the weeds will have a spot to grow through. Lots of other comments were good too.