New Year’s Day has come and gone. Now’s the time to turn over a new leaf and compost it into your garden.

If you haven’t prepared your beds for spring, get started. Most people wait until spring to begin their gardens and flower beds. Why do the biggest job at the last minute? Turn over your soil now and add the necessary amendments. Your spring planting will be a lot easier if you do.

If you’re starting a new garden, your first priority is to choose a good location. First, you’ll want a site where your plants will get at least six hours of sun each day. Remember, as the season changes, the sun moves. What might seem like an ideal site in the spring may not be suitable in midsummer.

Once you’ve selected your site, determine what size and shape you want. Use stakes and string (or an old garden hose) to delineate the area you’ve chosen. Make certain that you can reach all parts of the bed without having to walk on it. Walking compacts soil and lessens the amount of air and nutrients your plants will have. If you decide to put your bed next to a fence, it shouldn’t be more than 60 cm (2 feet) wide.

Now you’re ready to turn over the soil. Take a moment to see what type of soil you have. Here on the Coast, there are three basic types: sand, loam and clay. Pick up a handful of dirt and squeeze it into a ball. If it stays in a ball shape, you’ve got a clay soil. If it crumbles completely, it’s sand. A loamy soil will hold its shape but will easily break apart if you poke it.

A nice loam is what you want to have. You get there by adding organic material. Now is also a good time to have your soil tested by the Extension Service. Test kits are available from your local Extension Service office.

To create your bed, dig down at least 20 cm (8 inches) if you are creating level beds and work in about five cm (2 inches) of soil amendments. These can be compost, manure, peat moss or topsoil. The leaves from your yard are a cheap and easy way to amend your soil. Gather your leaves together (ask your neighbors for theirs) then spread them out on an even surface such as a driveway. Set your mower to its lowest level and run over the leaves several times.

After your beds are prepared, rake them over. If you don’t rake them, clods will form and will make it more difficult to plant in the spring.

If you make the effort, a raised bed is the best way to set up your garden. Raised beds improve drainage and are more easily managed over the season than a level bed. If you frame in your bed with timbers or bricks, a raised bed can add to the “look” of your yard.

Framing isn’t necessary to have a raised bed, but it can keep weedy plants from invading your beds from the outside.

Finally, mulch. If at all possible, use an organic mulch such as bark, chips or even this newspaper (not my article, though). Organic mulches have the advantage of breaking down and adding to the soil. Inorganic mulches include plastic films or woven garden fabrics.

Over the winter, the mulch will encourage microbes and earthworms to munch away at the amendments you’ve added so that, when spring planting comes around, you’ll be amazed at how easy it will be to smooth the soil and get the garden ready for planting. And, because the soil is more porous than it would be if you’d waited, it will dry out more quickly (especially in a raised bed) and will allow you to plant much earlier in the spring.

Good gardening, and have fun.