I need to take the easy road

I need to prepare a couple of flower beds for planting in a couple days. They’ve been planted in before (by the previous owners of the house, not me), so they're defined at least and not overgrown with weeds. I’d like to loosen up the soil and add some amendments. It doesn’t look like a major job, so I’ve settled on a small cordless B&D garden tiller – but I could use some advice on what type of compost/fertilizer I should mix into the soil. I just need something I can buy a couple bags of when I go the store to pick up the tiller. The beds are at my sister’s house in southern Wisconsin, and the soil doesn’t appear to be very sandy or heavy with clay...Any suggestions?

Ideally...you would want to check the soil to see what it needs. A few bags of composted cow manure would not hurt anything, but you may want to check the soil while you are up there. I have used a 3 or 4 dollar test kit called Rapi-test or Rapid-test...I think...that will test pH as well as the NPK levels of the soil. Then you can tell her what she needs to add or you can send her to the local garden center to get the fertilizer...if you are dead set on adding some. Also...I bought a couple large bags of sphagnum peat moss and have been mixing it with my potting soil and the kids threw a bag on the veggie garden before I tilled. This is my first time using peat moss and it adds some pretty good texture to the soil, as well as the good organic nutrients and water retaining properties it will add.
Good luck!

Hi, jenbear,

Yes, doing a soil test may save you a lot of work and expense.

I use peat sometimes, too, although some gardeners object to it as being environmentally insensitive. Mostly I used my chopped leaves collected from the fall which I keep in a pile in the back of the yard. Of course, you want something right now from the store--so in that case I also buy bags of mushroom compost to add to the garden with the peat. It makes a nice tilth.

This article may give you some other ideas for soil amendments.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/Garden/07235.html

One more thought--I recommend layering different amendments and newspapers in the autumn and then planting in the springtime a la the Lasagne Bed method. Of course that means planning several months in advance and not always possible. LOL

Have fun with your sister! t.

Good sugestions in this line of comments. I would knowing nothing..... which is about normal....add light applications of any organic fertilizer you can find. The low numbers are better than the high numbers for most flower beds. I use a 4-2-4 organic very lightly on flower beds. If you over fertilize the plants will grow to fast and to tall while at the same time send signals to the pathegons to move in and kill the weaklings. Mother is persistant in doing just that. Less is best.....allways. Organic fertilizers give you a degree of forgiveness.