Average Garden Soil at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

If you want to get some of the feeling of walking through a jungle, plant a thicket using just eulalia grass or ravenna grass. By summer's end you will be amazed at the size of the grasses. Remember to allow at least three years of active growth before these plants will begin to approach their ultimate size. Soil for this garden need not be better than Average garden soil. Remove the turf, then try to turn the earth to a depth of 1 foot. Add a mix of clean garden soil and some composted manure to make up for the lost earth. Plants do best (except for sea oats) in full sun.

THE BETTER the quality of the soil in your garden, the better your plants will grow. If your soil is poor and infertile you will have to improve it. But first, since soils vary hugely in texture, structure and quality, begin by working out what type of soil you have in the garden.

THE ANSWER, they say, lies in the soil—and no truer word about gardening was ever said. Good soil means good plants. Probably the most important thing you can do before you do anything else in the garden is therefore to get to know your soil. Then, if it needs it— and most soils do—you should find out how you can improve it. No gardener can hope to make the most of his or her garden without at least the minimum of basic tools. What are these tools, and which pieces of equipment are essential as opposed to just desirable?