Frankly I think building a raised bed is easier than ammending soil, but I live in Clay Soil-ville, California.

When we moved into our house I started with bags of Gold Rush bought at the nurseries. Wasn't the cheapest route because I could have had stuff delivered on my driveway, but it was the easiest.

Another good product that I use now is Paydirt, bought at same nursery.

How much you buy depends on the size of your garden and how deep you are wanting to dig down based on the current condition of your soil. The bags will list what the coverage is.

It has taken several years for the soil to improve consistently. Good luck!

Julie

I would agree with Julie. I took the lasagna/raised bed route to start my garden. The first year I used the square foot garden mix (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost) which can be spendy. Then I expanded and used the garden soil, compost, fall leaves and grass clippings. I've also sprinkled wood ashes for added potassium. (Bone meal is good for phosphorous, blood meal or alfalfa meal for nitrogen).

The book "Mini-Farming" has a nice section on soil ammendments and amounts to add.

Jenny- Where do you live? Do you have clay soil? If so, don't do anything until it dries out a bit. If you pick up a bit of soil and squeeze it...does it make a ball? That's clay.

We have clay and I've found the best thing is lots of aged horse manure...but I have horses. I'm sure any of these recommended amendments will be a big improvement to your soil. Best of luck with your new garden! :)

hi guys,
thanks for the postings. i don't know if its clay, i'll go check and see. but what i don't get is, what if i just dig a big hole and throw away all the dirt, 3 feet into the ground? i'll just throw out all the bad dirt and put high quality soil in there. then its essentially like a raised bed, right? there is no mixing/or improving of the soil since i'm just throwing it out.

??
jenny

Well, it's your garden and you can start it anyway you like. :)
But, I don't like digging. And, digging down 3 ft sounds like major back-breaking work to me. Just build up good soil on top and voila, raised bed.

You can dig down 3 feet, and find a place to trash all that dirt... or you can build up 6 inches or even a foot.

Even with a rose in a five gallon container i haven't dug down that far. But that's because I have clay. I couldn't if I tried.

Can you give us a better idea of your soil conditions or area? Also what kinds of things do you want to plant?

New gardens are fun... Julie

Luv, IF you have clay soil and dig the hole and pour in a good soil mix, you will essentially be building yourself an in-ground clay pot. Plant roots will be contained inside the holes and, here's the bad part, rain and water will collect and not drain, basically drowning your plants. Honest and truly, if you're willing to dig down three feet, you have plenty of energy to do the job right.

For my clay soil (you still haven't told us what you have), I lay 4 to 6 inches of organic material (compost, chopped leaves, manure, peat moss, etc.: any of these or any combination of these) over the top of the area I want to garden in. Then, I use a shovel to turn it and break it in about a foot deep (or you could till). Then wait two weeks to plant. In those two weeks, soil organisms will move in and break the soil down beautifully.

If, by chance, you have grass and weeds growing in the area you want to use, you will need to kill out the growth. If I were you, I would cover the entire area with a ten sheet layer of newspaper or cardboard plus a foot or so of organic material. Then, just let it sit there for this year's summer growing season. You're going to be busy unpacking and settling in from your move anyway. By fall, you'll have beautiful, effortless garden soil ready to receive a fall/winter garden.

hi guys,
thanks for all the feedback. i haven't had a chance to go to the house to see what kind of dirt it is, but you've convinced me to build a raised bed! i got a quote on raised beds for $1k to $4k.

now i just have to figure out what kind of dirt to fill it with.

jen