Caroline, I think that the best way to cure the root problem is to add compost..not soil..

If you think about a forest....trees die and fall over often uprooting themselves in the process without causing any problems for adjacent trees. Also as the leaves fall in the forest no one goes around raking them all up. They just settle into earth in their own time causing no harm to the trees.

Knowing this, I would add the two inches of soil and then add several inches of compost over it. Work the two together and you should be able to plant fairly easily in that. In the fall compost all the leaves you collect so that in the spring you can add them to the bed to keep a light mixture on top at all times. Compost is the best thing for flowers in general and is especially needed under trees because they're heavy feeders that will deplete the soil of nutrients fairly quickly. The tree will send up more runner roots toward the surface in time because of it's need to access the oxygen near the surface so it will be ongoing. The good news is that your plants will reach their desired size in about three years and it won't be necessary to do as much planting there anymore. You'll get to a point where you'll just need to replace things or divide things and you won't have to do as much digging.

MeMo

Oh MeMo thank you for the encouraging words. I have been feeling like a tree killer ! GGG is sending me a set of writings she has compiled on shade plants. So now I will move forward and not worry so much. I don't have a place to compost so need to see how to do that when there is no space left. Is there a minimsl way to compost leaves ? c

You can get a small composting barrel and tuck it in where you keep your garbage cans. There are oodles of different ones on the internet for sale. Try Gardners Supply for one. I'm sure you'll find one perfect for your needs!

MeMo

Thank you I will do it ! I do have lots of earthworms in my soil so I think that is a good thing.

My minimal effort methods come from being an old gardener with maximal areas to cover. Are your trees oaks? I used to rake and run them through a shredder, then scatter over the beds as combo winter cover and mulch.

Growing ever older, wiser(?) and lazier, now I let the wind blow the leaves into the beds for winter cover, with a little help from me. Before perennials put on new growth in spring, I rake the leaves out into the paths and the-one-who-mows BACKS the mower over them, blowing the chopped bits back into the beds.

Nell

I am a minimalist, as well. :-)

There are 2 things I always do in the fall. The first is to rake whole leaves into my beds for winter protection. The second is to rake leaves into large black, trash bags to decompose over the winter/early spring. I also poke holes in the bags and water them, if its a dry winter, to speed up the decompostion process.

When the weather warms up I remove the leaves from the beds and mix them with the bagged leaves. As mentioned earlier, this makes a nice composted mixture that I add to new plants as a top dressing.

This mixture can also be added to lasagna beds. I love the results from lasagna beds, and I think the composted leaves are a big part of that.

I garden in heavy clay, and if didn't do this,I don't think I could even dig in hole in the ground! lol

Marilyn