How to Prepare Your Garden for Summer

If you tilled your garden in the fall, you should not have to do it again. However, if you haven't, now is the time to lay down manure or your fertilizer of choice and work it into the soil. This will provide a strong nutrient base for healthy plants, as well as restore the nutrients your vegetables took from the soil the previous year. If you have already tilled, use gloves to work fertilizer in by hand where you will be planting.

If you have a small patch that you enjoy weeding by hand, you can skip this step. However, if you have a large garden that cannot be weeded by hand, lay down a barrier to keep weeds to a minimum. You can use newspaper, cardboard, black plastic or even carpet to lay down between your rows of plants. While using weed barriers may not make your garden particularly attractive, it will greatly reduce the amount of time you spend on your hands and knees working towards healthy plants. Some gardeners choose to cover their entire garden with one of these barriers, then cut holes in which thy place their plants. If you go this route, be sure to cut a large enough hole so that water from rain can make its way to the roots.