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Healthy, full beds don't happen overnight. In fact, they begin the year before. At the end of summer, remove all non-woody plants from your bed! Yes, even your bulbs (store the perennials and bulbs in a moist towel to prevent desiccation). Pull everything and loosen the soil with a hoe, trowel, or spade. This will help nutrients mix, prevent compaction, and add water pockets to the soil.

After mixing the soil, it's time to re-plant. Don't crowd your bulbs! Bulbs usually like to be at least 6 inches deep, however, don't stress depth too much. Most bulbs are able to corkscrew themselves deeper into soil if needed. Next, re-plant your perennials keeping in mind their shade requirements. This is also a great time to plant things that can over-winter such as garlic and onions.

Now step away from your beds and over to your compost pile. Take the most decomposed material and spread it thickly over your beds. This compost will act as mulch over the winter, preventing grasses from taking-over your beds, as well as releasing nutrients into the soil as it weathers.

At the end of winter, if your compost mulch is finely broken down, you may gently mix it into your top-soil. If it is still thick and slimy, remove it and place it back in the pile to continue to decompose.

As the weather warms, and days lengthen, your bulbs will receive cues to emerge and your beds will begin to fill with green. Watering is usually not necessary until seed planting time begins. Follow directions on seed packages to know when the right time to plant for your region is. Then lightly water new seedlings and transplants. Most importantly, take time to soak in your beautiful beds!

Learn more about this author, Gretchen Gingerich.
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