10 Easy Steps :: Making A New Planting Bed

There are so many variables and random elements to deal with in any garden. In Florida I think it is fair to say our conditions are unique from any other state. Our ridiculously sandy soil is a relatively consistent factor. The heat, humidity, spring droughts, summer rains and winter frosts are generally widespread aspects Florida gardeners manage to work around.

All of which contribute to the difficulty of dealing with the monoculture of a lush green St. Augustine lawn. It is one element I am resigned to quit fighting against.

My solution? Simple. Make more planting beds.

I've been eyeing the space in front of the northside berm since last spring; thinking of ways I could claim it for planting a few more edibles as well as some sun loving flowers. Hesitation factors include the obvious encroachment on lawn-play-space and the fact it is out in the open ... not protected from wildlife. My edible garden is fenced on all sides to keep digging/damaging critters out. I'm taking my chances with this one.

Florida's January spring-like weather was the nudge I needed to get me in gear. Today I'm going to walk you through the steps of how I make a new planting bed from start to finish.
1. Rather than dig out the layer of grass where I want to plant (like I spent so many hours doing in the past) I begin by layering newspapers (6 or more sheets overlapping each other so there are no spaces) or cardboard down next to the grass in whatever shape I've determined to make the new planting bed.

2. Sometimes I mark the area with spray paint, a hose, or even stakes depending on the plan I have in mind. Do whatever you feel comfortable with and what works for you.

Tip: watering down the papers as you go is recommended to keep them in place.

3. Next comes a few wheelbarrows full of black gold from the compost pile. This stuff has been breaking down all summer/fall and is ready to be the bottom layer.

4. On top of the compost I pile on several inches of potting mix. Potting mix is much lighter (airier)than top soil which I would not recommend for a planting bed.

5. I happened to have a couple of bags of Mushroom Compost on hand (because I try to always have a couple of bags on hand) which became my next layer. I've used aged horse manure and saw dust in the past. You want to keep in mind that building the soil up with natural organics is going to save you lots of headaches in the long run. You can read my article on building soil here if you want to know more about why it is the wisest way to get started.

6. Next I sprinkle on some blood meal and bone meal. I'm not fussy about this. Well, I'm fussy about the fact that it has to be done but I'm not fussy about measuring.

I sprinkle on a generous layer ~~~ a few handfuls of each. More organic goodness!

Because I let this settle for a couple of weeks before I plant anything I'm not too worried about the amount being too much. ** Please see the note on step 9. Very important to wait to plant.

A closer look at the dusting of both products.

7. I use my steel rake to gently massage it together and into the top layer of potting mix.

8. Mulch for the pathway.

Edit added to answer a great question from daisy in the comments section::
For the pathway I layer with newspaper and then mulch. I don't put soil down on the pathways first.

Tip::When making new planting beds it is really important to leave room to access existing beds as well as the new one(s). I want to be able to walk through plantings by way of paths. Because I extended this area out from an already 15' deep planting it was necessary to leave ample room (about 3') for a pathway between the berm and the new space. Again, it is worth the forethought to be sure the materials we plant can be reached easily by the gardener. :-)

The dirt section is about 20' in length and 4' at the widest point.

9. Now I soak it down with water and I wait a couple of weeks at least to let all of it *cook* together in the warm sun. ***It is really important to wait a couple of weeks because Blood Meal is high in nitrogen and it can burn new seeds and seedlings. It breaksdown fairly quickly so let it sit before planting.

10. It is a happy day when it is time to plant.


Because I'm putting some edibles in this area I surrounded it with folding fencing. It is a deterrent. I realize it won't keep all animals out.

The first plants I put in is the edging. With pieces of bulbine I divided from other plants in the front garden I planted along the front border. I like to include in every planting bed foundation plants that will sustain the bed year round no matter what is planted behind them. Bulbine is hardy in the winter and very tolerant of drought also. It has a low habit to work for the size of this bed and complement the one it is connected to.

The obelisk adds structure and gives a sense of height and balance to the berm behind it like a very small tree or specimen plant would. Sweet peas and pole beans were planted from seed around the base of it to climb as they grow. I bought some basil, chives, cilantro, and lobelia plants to put around the obelisk.

Broccoli starts (from seed) were moved from the edible garden. Also some gaillardia transplants, some nasturtium transplants, and I planted new seeds of squash and zinnias.
Pine straw is great for covering seeds. It isn't too heavy and it serves as mulch to protect the soil from drying out too rapidly.

Good soil, good drainage, and the right plants in the right place make for a happy new space.

Here is another view from the opposite side looking back toward the edible garden (behind the jasmine on the fence). So far, so good.

Edit added due to some discussions on my FB page. Just want to add this note about soil (to help us keep our goals in mind) from Colorado State University Extension::
Rather than being an inert material, soil houses a dynamic living ecosystem. The1-5% organic matter found in soils includes 0.2% living organisms. Although most soil organisms are invisible to the naked eye, they help gardeners in multiple ways. One major benefit to gardeners is their ability to help improve soil tilth. Soil tilth is the suitability of a soil to support plant growth, especially as it relates to ease of tillage, fitness for a seedbed, impedance to seedling emergence and root penetration. Soil organisms also play a central role in making nutrients available to plants. The community of soil organisms is varied, versatile, and adaptable to changing conditions and food supplies.


Stay tuned for my next post when I'll share another new planting bed I recently finished.

Are you working on some fun projects while the weather is still nice? Or are you waiting for your weather to be nice enough to get in gear?

From Sand to Soil

My article, From the Ground Up, has been published this week in Troy-Bilt's June newsletter, The Dirt. If you haven't already signed up to receive their monthly e-news you can sign up for The Dirt here.

The Dirt is always full of tips and great information on all sorts of gardening endeavors as well as special offers. Not only that but you'll learn about the ways and advantages to using good garden equipment that is "built for life".

As a refresher for those of you new to Hoe and Shovel I shared some news a while back ... I'm working with Troy-Bilt and the Saturday6 team to help provide practical tips and answers for everyday home gardeners like you and me. For all the details and links to the 5 other bloggers that make up the fabulous team included in this project, click on the page tab above. Also in that link updated photos of me working the Saturday6 Lowe's event... just keep scrolling down.

In the event you didn't receive The Dirt in your INBOX today and you want to take a peek at my thoughts on improving soil as a means to grow your best Florida garden you can read it by clicking on the Saturday6 icon below.

Don't forget to come back here and leave a comment to add your thoughts to mine. :-)

Disclosure: My reviews and/or recommendations are always my own thoughts. I am being compensated for my partnership with Troy-Bilt as one of the Saturday6 team members. This post is in conjunction with that partnership.

Cowboy-Up With A Pile of Manure

On his way to a horse show my youngest man-child stopped by one day last week with the back of his truck full of some wonderfully-aged horse manure. Thank you, dear child of mine!

He happens to be a real-life cowboy who trains reining horses.

One of the benefits of horse manure in the garden is that it contains many of the micro-nutrients (boron, copper, chlorine iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc) that we hear less about while also adding to the composition of the soil. In addition it helps the soil hold moisture and promotes easier, and healthier root growth.

It is suggested never to use fresh manure because it is considered very "hot" (high in nitrogen) and can burn your plants.

Fortunately this delivery was light and airy as it had been decomposing for several months already.

Most of it went on the new berm I'm building on the north side of the back yard. Some of it went into the compost pile ~~ just for fun~~ and several loaded wheelbarrows of it went straight into established planting beds as a top layer.

These are the things that make a gardener joyful, gleeful, and just plain exuberant!!! At the same time the landscape is singing hallelujahs for the added nutrition.
(A BIG shout-out ~and hugs~to my cowboy!)

Will Work for Mulch

Hoe & Shovel is blessed to have a surplus of oak trees. The photo above is a look to the north from the driveway. The trees are pretty much mirrored on the south side of the drive and then meet together to canopy over the pavement. In the back garden there are many more.

Trees were on the 'must-have list' for me when we were house shopping and purchased this house 24 years ago. So often in this part of Florida contractors are known for buying up abandoned or non-producing orange groves and then leveling the land to create massive stretches of housing complexes. We were looking for something with a more "old Florida" feel and a smaller more secluded neighborhood than the typical sprawl of homes with cookie cutter style. Gardening was only a dream for me way back then. I honestly had no idea the first thing about it but I was determined to take on this "big yard" at the time.

The trees provide my garden with numerous advantages. Probably the most important being the shade from the often brutal temps in the summer. The layout of the tree cover supplies an almost perfect balance of sun and shade for all the foliage I've used in my underplantings.

This time of year when the new spring growth in the oaks is bursting forth it is also releasing the spent leaves. So they are dropping to the ground in record numbers as I can only imagine they must do in the fall up north. In Florida we don't really lose our leaves in the fall- it isn't cold enough. I know--- another thing the northern gardeners must think is all backwards. But... it is all we know down here in the tropics. Leaves falling like mad in the spring.
This is the way my driveway looks (above) every 24 hours for the past three weeks. Now I'm not complaining, believe me. I aggressively collect them from the driveway and street side gladly. My handy Echo gas-blower is my friend along with a rake and my trusty wheelbarrow. The natural showering of organic material provides every one of my planted beds with the mulch needed to protect them all summer long.
Willingly, I cart wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of this precious commodity around to every bed in my garden and gently hand distribute under all my plantings. It has been years since I've spent money on mulch of any kind.

The weekly mowing right now sort of turns into more of a vacuuming as the majority of what's bagged consists of leaves. Typically I most often pile the grass clippings on top of the compost pile and wait for them to breakdown. My compost situation is a whole other story I could cover in another post. I've never really done much of my gardening by the book which goes for my compost area as well. Would I love to have a compost bin all neat and nice? It is on the wish list but this has worked for me all these years. So, this is the "pile" located on the "back 40" where no one else can see it but me. I deplete this pile occasionally as well to work the "black gold" into my beds.

Oak leaves break down beautifully when used as mulch. It's natural and it's acidic which is what most of the tropicals require for best growing conditions. The layers and layers my soil has received over the years has provided me with a remarkably rich and loamy environment for all my beds... not a typical environment found in this part of Florida. It's worth all the work and effort it takes during this already busy gardening season.


In addition, there are so many other reasons to keep either existing trees or to add trees to your garden. Not only do they help moderate weather extremes such as hot sun or strong winds but trees and shrubs offer habitat for wildlife and privacy for humans by screening adjacent property. They also increase soil porosity, allowing water to infiltrate rather than run off. Vegetation helps protect water quality by filtering out nutrients and pesticides that could otherwise reach a lake or stream and cause algal blooms or excessive plant growth.


What is your mulch of preference? I'm especially curious about gardeners north of Florida. What kind so you use and where do you get it? I go through this routine in the spring and then by the time winter rolls around I've dug and planted and moved plants around so much that I find I need some shoring up of the mulch. That's when I deplete my compost pile which gets quite large at times. Don't forget, we mow the lawn all year long.

Large Wigglers

During the years my children were growing up, there was a sign we traveled by often on a neighboring road. It was nailed to a tree in front of an unsophisticated country home. The sign was made from a rough piece of plywood with hand-painted red-lettering that simply read: Large Wigglers.

We got a big chuckle out of it each time we passed it and usually made funny comments about how that sign could be so misinterpreted. To me, it was a gentle acknowledgement of our move from the big city to a more provincial area. Well, that was then and this is now and as the city moved toward us, eventually the little house was removed to widen the road and the sign was gone.

I’m reminded of that sign often as I come across the large wigglers that seem to thrive here at Hoe & Shovel. Lately it’s been my pursuit to purposefully transfer handfuls of them to the soil of my raised beds where I’m growing veggies. Sure the wiggly helpers would find my vegetable garden eventually but I’m on a mission to help the process along.

While adding my kitchen cuttings to my compost pile it is rather an easy task to exhume a dozen or so at a time from the rich organic material. In reality, all of the squirmy helpers are not large. They can be found in all sizes. Once unearthed they wriggle their way quickly back into the deep darkness and safety of the soil.

Why earthworms? I’ve listed here just a few of the benefits these simple creatures provide to any garden.

Improve soil fertility

- earthworm activity counteracts leaching by bringing up nutrients from deep in the soil and depositing them on the soil's surface as castings

- the burrows also allows roots to easily go down deeper into the soil and get nutrients they could not ordinarily reach

- removes litter from soil surface - earthworms eat the litter and leave the nutrients in their castings for plants to use as a natural fertilizer that is non-polluting.

- help compost residues and waste products, bacteria in a worm's gut help destroy harmful chemicals and breakdown organic wastes

- create fertile root channels - the mucus lining of abandoned burrows are an excellent source of nutrients

- make plant nutrients more available, worms concentrate minerals in their castings in a form that is easy for plants to absorb

- earthworms chelate nutrients, making minerals available to plants that would otherwise be in a form that would be chemically unavailable.

- plant growth stimulants such as Auxins are produced in the castings, these hormones stimulate roots to grow faster and deeper.

- worms neutralize soil pH, cast analysis shows that the product coming out of the back end of a worm is closer to neutral than what goes in the front end.

- nitrogen fixing bacteria live in the gut of earthworms and in earthworm casts and higher nitrogenase activity, meaning greater rates of nitrogen fixation are found in casts as compared to surrounding soil.
Improve plant growth and health

- Tests have shown that crops grown in earthworm-inhabited soil increased yields from 25% to over 300% than in earthworm-free soil. K.P. Barley, Advances in Agronomy, vol. 13, 1961, p. 262-264

- earthworms help eliminate thatch in lawns and grassy areas by eating and digesting the plant debris

- studies have shown that soils rich in earthworms have less of the harmful nematodes - earthworms create soil conditions that discourage populations of soil organisms such as insects, nematodes and others that are harmful to plants

- by passing soil and organic matter through their bodies, gradually make acid soil less acid and alkaline soil less alkaline. The Rodale Book Of Composting, 1993

- Many species of earthworms actually eat the bad microbes (fungi, bacteria, etc.) that are plant pathogens and in the process they also increase the good beneficial microbes.