Planting is a no-brainer...right? Wrong! One of the easiest ways to waste money is to buy a plant, dig a hole in what passes for soil in your yard and plop it in. Unless you are among the few blessed with deep loam soil, some plants will survive this, but a great many will depart to that great compost heap in the sky. Many gardeners, when faced with the death of a plant, immediately start to blame the nursery who sold them the plant, insects or disease when the real cause is improper planting techniques.
Soil Preparation
You may have read the old adage - "Plant a $1.00 plant in a $10.00 hole". It's not far off the mark.
The soil in which you place your plant is as important to your plant as what you eat and where you live are to you. Even more so, since plants can't get up and move if the cupboard is bare or the room it has is too small, and you can.
Plant roots are their lifelines. If the roots can't function properly, the plant either grows poorly or dies. Large, vigorous root masses are way more important than flowers to a plant. Roots need water, air and nutrients. They constantly grow at the tips seeking these elements, so it follows that if the soil around the roots is loose (fluffy, open, workable - whatever you like to call soil of good tilth), they will be able to grow more easily than if it is a solid block of clay concrete. Loose soil also permits water to penetrate more easily and deeply and contains more air spaces for the exchange of gasses necessary for plant life. Of course, I am not referring to bog or water plants here, but to the majority of plants we grow in our gardens.
I also need to point out that I garden on a clay based soil. Those of you who garden on sandy soil will have more problems retaining moisture and nutrients and fewer problems providing plants with open soil. The planting techniques will be similar, no matter what soil you have, but the soil preparation I describe will be slightly different for you.
Clearing
Once you have decided where to put your plant, the first step is clearing the soil of whatever vegetation is currently occupying it. You can hand weed - which I recommend because intimate contact with your soil helps you understand it - or you can use an herbicide.
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