By Cynthia White, UC Master Gardener
Gardening in the past brings a strong memory of someone having to spend half a day digging up the garden before planting. It’s just what everyone did!! As time has passed, we’ve learned a lot about how to be successful with gardening and the best part is there’s no need to “dig” up the garden anymore. We know that soil is made up of millions of microscopic organisms that are attracted to the sugars that are left by plant roots. The sugar creates a symbiotic relationship with plants. If you break up the soil by digging, the vital organisms get disrupted and the pathways are broken.
Previous plants or even weeds have made tiny highways for water to be guided and stored in the soil rather than running off. Think about what is just under the surface of the soil – seeds just waiting for sunshine to sprout. If you dig up the soil you bring all those seeds to the surface where they can thrive when the light signals growth.
When it’s time to start your garden, layer on some mulch and do your planting. If it has been a notably weedy area you might want to lay down some cardboard before you apply the mulch. This stops the seeds already in the area to be deprived of the light needed to grow and you can instead enjoy what you are planting on top to get all the nutrients and light. Don’t forget to remove any tape or labels from the cardboard. You can also use newsprint if you have plenty handy but don’t use the shiny or colored pages.
The last thing is also simple, be reasonable about what you plant. If you are dreading all the work of a garden, don’t overdue things. Make it successful rather than huge.