That's exciting, aime. I test to see if I need a raised bed by digging a 2' x 2' hole, dump a 5 gal. bucket in, to see how fast it drains.

I don't knnow how DRY it is in your zone, a raised bed dries out quickly. I have seen someone put a river birch tree in a raised bed, it's all withered, worse-looking than my yellowish water-logged tree (we get many all night-rains, and all-week rains).

I have a bricked bed in front. I put plastic edging on the hilly side to stop water from draining out, the other side is left open to drain out. I'm tired of watering my roses on this open, partial shade area. The other part with plastic edging holds water better, and I don't have to water at all.

HomeDepo sells Life-Time guarantee black plastic edging, it doesn't look bad if you put pretty bricks next to the edging. Some folks use green fiberglass edging, which looks nice just by itself.

it's a new housing area so I think the ground is somewhat compacted and it's clay.

but it's also very dry here!

ah,... so I'm not really sure what to do. Perhaps raise it a bit, but not super high? I just have no idea.

Check the pH and adjust to around 6.2 with sulfur. Best to get a soil test to see if there are unusual excesses or deficiencies. Don't dig deep holes, but amend the topsoil over the whole area uniformly. Add a few inches of organic matter, preferably manure. Raising the bed even 4" will improve drainage if waterlogging occurs in the winter season. Turface (the grade with around 1/8" particles) is a good permanent soil lightener for clay.

Aimee: You helped me a lot with the own-root vs. Dr. Huey dilemma, so I share with you my experience with a new house's heavy hard clay in Illinois. When our house was built 12 years ago, the builder put less than 10" of hard clay topsoil. I did research on breaking up clay soil: the experts recommend coarse pavers sand (NOT fine playsand). That did it nicely for my 4 white pines. The peat moss works better in your dry climate, and will lower pH by 1 point (1 to 2" of peat moss worked into the top 6").

Michaelg is right: it's easier to add bagged topsoil on top, like Scotts' Premium topsoil with peatmoss. We used a heavy-duty rototiller to work the sand in, and must had hit a limestone and broke the rototiller.

Lowe's sells soil kit for $11, but I would find a more accurate separate test for pH alone. I got stuck with a big bag of alfalfa meal from the feed store, and it worked nicely in breaking up heavy clay (it separates soil like peat moss does). We could not use much peat moss in the low part since there's a lot of rain here, but with your dry climate, you can use more to lower the pH and makes your soil holds moisture better.

I'm not sure how much money you're willing to spend, but since it is at the front of your property, you may be able to rent a bobcat and a truck, remove the soil, and find some free topsoil to replace it with. That would solve the problem permanently, I imagine.

Otherwise, I would just use a drip system and lots and lots of compost mulch. If you want a raised bed, I would raise it high, at least 20", so you don't trip over a three inch high brick every time you get out of the car.

The only one I have on your list is Julia Child and I can't say enough good things about it! It's one of the only highly hyped roses that's ever actually lived up to it's hype.

With 12 years experience of adding soil on top, I'll say be cautious of where your topsoil comes from. My neighbor used bagged topsoil from Menards (came with seeds) and converted her front lawn into a weed and crabgrass patch the size of a school bus.

I only trust EarthGro topsoil (white/red) bag from HomeDepo (zero weeds). Scott's Premium topsoil is pricey but it holds moisture better with peat moss.

I once ordered a giant heap of topsoil - and found out that it's the same sticky heavy clay as mine, with weeds. Another person from gardenweb ordered a pile of topsoil, to find out that it has zero nitrogen after a soil test.

If it's a large bed, I would test the soil first before you order a big heap. If it's a small area, reputable bagged topsoils would do.