"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


"Periproct" wrote ...
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Depends on your soil type, after 5 years on our new allotment the ground
still packs down to concrete with heavy rain. Digging spuds yesterday I
had clods too big to lift because it's now dried out. We need the ground
to have just the right amount of moisture before it will break up and even
then it won't turn into a fine tilth even using a rotovator and copious
amounts of manure over the years.

Herbs come mainly from the Med area so want sun, good drainage and not
much fertilizer, I would not use any especially as the ground has been
fallow for some time.

This doesn't sound promising. My little selection of herbs are thriving in
the conservatory but I haven't enough shelf space for them to stay there
much longer.