Well, the good news is, that's no big deal at all. You could be enjoying herbs, veggies and flowers by the end of the season if you're prepared to put your back into it right now. It's the perfect time right now to get a bed started, and you don't need any special equipment or a lot of money.
Let's say you've got a small patch of land that you think might be good for gardening. Let's kick the tires on it a bit.
Basic considerations for a good spot to garden:
1. How much sun does it get throughout the day? Did you ever make a sundial in your backyard when you were a kid in science class? Try doing it again. Stick something upright into the ground and check on it throughout the day. Does it always cast a shadow? If so, you've got a spot with full sun. If it doesn't cast a shadow early in the morning and/or late in the afternoon, you've got partial shade. Maybe there's a bit of tree coverage for part of the day, with filtered sunlight coming through. That's fine. You can call that part shade too.
Just about everything you can put in a garden wants full sun. Especially herbs and veggies. There are exceptions, and maybe I'll do a post on shade gardening at some point, but most of the time you're going to want full sun. Typically you'll want about six hours of full, unfiltered sun per day.
2. How's the drainage? Is this spot in a low-lying area? When it rains, does the water tend to puddle up on this spot? If so, that doesn't make this spot unworkable. In fact, there's such a thing as a rainwater garden that can actually filter water nicely before it works its way back down as groundwater. However, for most plants you're going to want to garden, the tags that come with the plants will contain a soon-to-be-familiar phrase: "Well-drained soil."
NOTE: You can spot-test for soil drainage with a water hose. On a clear, average day with no rain in the past three days, spray the ground with water until it puddles up. If the ground is mostly dry within 15 minutes, your soil might need some more organic material to hold water better. If it's dry in 30 minutes, that's about ideal. If it takes an hour, this spot needs better drainage.
Pick a spot that is uphill or otherwise elevated. If it's low-lying, you might consider grading it to be more level. Get yourself a pickup truck (or a friend you can take advantage of who owns one) and some fill dirt. Alternatively, you might consider "hilling" the spots where you put your plants. Mound up a good bit of soil and soil amendments and put your plants in the center. Farmers do this all the time to maximize the effectiveness of their irrigation canals. The plants get water, but aren't drowned by it. That's what you want to avoid.
3. Consider your location in relation to a water source. This might seem basic, but it's just basic enough to forget. Will you be able to get a hose to it, or aim a sprinkler at it? Also consider the proximity to where you store your garden tools and other equipment. Some of that stuff can get heavy on a hot summer day.
4. What kind of soil are you working with? Do you know the history of this particular spot? Did you or the previous owners spray it with herbicides or pesticides? If so, is that a problem for you? Is it filled with rocks or debris or tree roots? Think about the current condition of the soil too. Is it covered in grass and weeds? Do those plants look healthy, or are they barely clinging to life? If the soil appears poor, don't worry about that as much as the other factors because there is MUCH you can do to improve the condition of soil. I have written a lot about that on this blog, and I'll probably write some more. Still, if you can choose a spot that has good soil over a spot that doesn't, with all other factors equal, pick the one with nicer soil to start with.
Try to find a spot that satisfies at least three out of four of these (or as many as you can live with) and it's time to start digging.
Creating the bed
You can go really overboard here. I mean, you can major in landscape architecture at certain universities if you want to. But for a basic garden, just make it a shape you can work with. You may choose to create a raised bed if bending over is a concern for you. An ergonomic garden might be horseshoe-shaped to allow for easier access. If you can, try to plan it so that every plant will be within arm's reach for you. You want to tread lightly on garden soil with your feet as compacted soil is bad for plants.
NOTE: If your soil is so lousy that you don't think you can improve it, consider raised-bed or "lasagna" gardening, which basically plunks a box of quality soil on top of that lousy soil.
When you've decided on the shape, you can mark the borders with whatever you have handy. Like, say, a garden hose or some spare paver stones. Professional landscapers use wooden stakes and string to temporarily mark the borders of a bed.
For the purposes of this post, I'm assuming that you're starting with average, grass-covered suburban land, like I did a few years back. Don't worry about the grass coverage too much. Just trim it down with the mower and start tilling it in. Whether you're working with a hand tool like a hoe or a mattock, or a gas-powered rototiller, just make sure you pick out any large pieces of debris such as lawn grass rhizomes, big-rooted weeds, stones, etc. The purpose of this process is to help loosen up the soil. Keep mixing it up until the texture improves.
To further improve your texture, we'll move on to...
Amending the soil
I talk a lot about soil here, and I'll continue to because it's just that important. Now that you're digging through your soil, get to know it a bit. Are you running into a lot of clay? Seeing a lot of stones? Is the soil a light-brown color, maybe indicating that it might be poor? Or is is a rich black? Are you seeing a lot of earthworms or other underground life? Take some stock here, because knowing your soil means knowing what the soil needs.
If you find that your soil is too hard to work with, is devoid of plant and animal life underneath, or appears to look nutrient-poor (or even if none of those things is true), then you'll want to fold in some organic materials as you're working with the bed. Good choices here are:
1. Compost. Storebought, or homemade
2. Spagnum peat moss
3. Composted manure (whatever you can find)
4. Organic nutrient sources (my favorites are blood and bone meal, for nitrogen and phosphates)
5. Coarse-grained sand (where needed, to break up clay and improve tilth)
When doing serious work on a bed, I'll include two or three of these items and mix them in well. You might as well, because it's easy to add amendments when nothing is planted. Once your bed is filled with plants, you're going to have to top-dress or mulch, or else work very carefully with a hand tool to make sure you don't disturb root systems that much.
NOTE: If you're amending soil with half-rotted compost, keep in mind that compost browns can leach away some of the important nitrogen out of the soil, tying it up in the decomposition of the compost and keeping it out of reach of living plants. Once the browns turn the corner and decay more completely, that nitrogen will "unlock." But just keep this in mind when you want to use this kind of amendment.
Once you've folded this stuff into the ground, over the next few months, the increased amount of organic materials will attract earthworms (who aerate and fertilize the soil). You'll find the ground doesn't dry out as fast. It'll be easier for both you and the plants to dig through, and nutrients will be gradually released for the plants in this soil to use. These are all things you need from your garden, and your plants will benefit from your extra investment.
Final steps
Pretty much anything you do in the garden should be followed by a brief watering-in, if there hasn't been any rainfall in the past few days.
Try to create a level bed, keeping in mind the direction that water will flow from and to the bed when it rains or is being watered. Use soil from elsewhere in the yard, or storebought topsoil or potting mix, to level things out a bit.
Whether you want to mulch now or mulch later is a matter of personal choice. I like to put down mulch when I'm finished planting. The added benefit of mulching even in a new garden with nothing planted in it is that the bed will hold moisture better, and it's good for your bed not to be dried out by the time you plant. Also it will keep out weeds in the meantime.
You can mulch with shredded cedar, bark chunks, half-finished compost, untreated grass clippings, pine needles, newspapers, cardboard, straw, shredded leaves, cocoa hulls, etc. Just don't use anything artificial, like chunks of rubber. Some people use recycled glass mulch, which is marketed as repelling slugs. I don't know about that. I prefer something that will decay and add to the soil's health over time. The other thing to keep in mind is the color and reflectivity of the mulch. Anything dark-colored will hold onto more heat. A black mulch could overheat your garden in the summer months — or keep it warm if you're fall gardening.
My favorite mulch is a layer of newspaper and/or cardboard with a thick layer of compost on top. With that arrangement, you'll get no weeds for months, and plenty of passive soil improvement with no extra work for you.
Finally, it's a good idea to create some kind of permanent border around your garden, both for aesthetics, and to prevent certain plants from wandering around and becoming invasive in your yard. Use wood, stone or bricks. Something that will keep the weeds down and not decay over time.
Now you're ready for planting day, which I'll cover in an upcoming post.
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