New Beds: Double-digging is the best way to prepare a planting bed on a site that’s never been dug before (or hasn’t been dug for a long time). It will seem like a lot of work at first, but the results will be well worth it, whether you’re growing perennials, vegetables, herbs, and annuals.
How To Double-Dig A New Bed: Lay out the edges of new planting beds with stakes and twine. (Four feet is the optimum width for a bed; such a width lets you work the bed from either long side without having to walk over the bed’s soil, compacting it. Wider beds will require pathways built into them.) Remove any sod covering the area and put the sod pieces in the compost heap. Divide the undug bed into 1-foot wide strips running the length of the bed. Starting at one end of the bed, dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep. Remove the soil and cart it over to the opposite end of the bed. With a spade, loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole to the depth of another foot. Then sprinkle into the hole any soil amendments you wish to add.
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