Get the soil ready for planting

Learning objectives:

Soil | Fertiliser | Compost

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

| Digging | Tilling | Planting | Aeration | Texture

Preparation

Gather gloves and the tools you will need. Make sure children are familiar with tool safety .

Equipment

• Gloves
• Hand forks or large forks
• Hand trowels
• Hand rakes or large rakes
• Kneelers
• Buckets for weeds
• Organic matter (home-made compost
  

  Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

  or bought in bagged soil conditioner)

1. Using forks, push the tines deep into the soil and carefully loosen, lift and turn the soil, breaking up any large lump with the tines
2. Remove any old plant material and weeds , making sure you dig out all the roots and shoots. Carefully shake off the soil from old plants and weeds over the beds
3. Collect old plants and weeds in buckets, composting what you can
4. Fill up buckets with organic matter using a hand trowel
5. Add in a bucket of organic matter to every square metre of soil and mix the organic matter into the soil surface using a fork
6. Now collect a rake. Rake the soil level, by moving the rake gently over the soil surface forwards and backwards in long strokes, gently tapping any lumps with the teeth of the rake
7. Return all tools to the tool stop or shed and clean off soil with a brush

• Always work from the edge of the beds so you don’t stand on the soil
• If you have to stand on the soil, use a plank of wood. Standing on this, work in a line, forking in front of you and then moving the plank backwards