Feed your soil. Pretty basic, but often over-
looked. Compost is good, but compost is
not fertilizer.
For those who amend soil with compost
before planting and then hope for the
best, here's a quick tip: Add a bag of what's
called "complete fertilizer" for plants or
flowers to the soil, following the directions
based on the size of your garden. If you
missed the chance to fertilize while prep-
ping your garden earlier this spring, you can
still add fertilized planting soil around your
seedlings or starts as they go in over the
TIP 1:
Figure out the fertilizer
Tip 1:
next week or two.
Complete fertilizer—
which is long on nitro-
gen for plant growth—is just a generic solu-
tion. It will feed your plants, but it doesn't
take into consideration the makeup of your
specific soil. That means it doesn't correct
for any deficiencies.
Many local garden experts can provide soil
analysis (for a fee usually) so that you can
figure out which soil amendments you need
to add to your garden, and in what quantities.
