In this episode, Hanna and Sarah revisit one of the very first topics ever covered on the podcast: preparing a new perennial garden bed. With a few more years of experience under their belts—working in their own yards and on public projects—they’re bringing back the original advice along with some new tricks, lessons learned, and a little extra nuance. The big takeaway? Use the cool days of early spring to get your beds ready before your spring plant purchases fill your driveway. Your future gardening self will thank you.
Recommended Tools for Bed Preparation
- Garden spade (preferred for cutting sod and edging beds)
- Shovel (useful for scooping soil when digging deeper holes)
- Hand trowel (for planting individual plants)
- Measuring tape (to plan bed size or measure after to estimate plant numbers)
- Garden hose or rope (to visualize curved bed edges)
- Wheelbarrow (for moving sod and soil)
- Tarp (helps keep soil contained during digging)
Useful but not required:
- Long Reel Measuring Tape
- Hand Sprayer (for herbicide application)
- Weed Wacker/String Trimmer
- Lawn Mower
- Hard Rake
Tools generally not recommended for perennial beds:
- Rototillers (can damage soil structure)
- Sod cutters (often unnecessary for small home projects)
Links:
A comparison of shovels vs spades
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