boy are your words confusing ... how about a pic ..

and then tell us what amendments... and how you are thinking of incorporating them ...

also.. what is your native soil .. and what is the problem you are trying to solve ...

the simple answer is.. walk on the part that has not been incorporated .. presuming your incorp will re-aerate it ... but those words are confusing also ...

ken

BTW ... i cant think of why you would need to do this under established old shrubs ... surely not for the shrubs ....

ken

I need to add organic matter to the soil my garden

I don't have a photo but I do have my garden-plan in an Excel spreadsheet. But I can't upload an Excel spreadsheet. Can I e-mail it to you?

Start at one end, and walk backwards as you do the incorporation, thus, as Ken said, digging up what you just walked on. Or knelt on, depending on how you're doing the incorporation. The question is what are you incorporating, why, and what plants you've got there already, but you didn't ask about that.

20 roses; Glossy Abelia; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; Pineapple Guava; Holly; 2 Fringe Flowers; Silver Sheen; New Zealand Tea tree; Cotoneaster

The organic matter is Kellogg's N-rich Soil Conditioner

Just avoid walking on the soil as much as possible. I assume you are planting after amending the soil? If so, the same thing applies - try to stay off the soil. If you need to be in the bed to plant - as is often the case - using a small piece of plywood or a board to stand on whilst planting can help to distribute your weight and avoid compaction.

I'm amending the soil after planting.

Is it better to amend the soil immediately around each plant or to amend the soil in the entire garden?

Loosen the soil with a fork and then dump the organic product on top, as top-dressing or mulch, instead of digging it in.

thanks

To: ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5:

My garden is 23 feet wide (side-to-side) and 17 feet deep (front-to-back).

A concrete sidewalk runs along one side and a bed of ivy is on the opposite side.

A lawn is at the front of the garden and a wrought iron fence is at the back of the garden.

Concrete edger bricks separate the sidewalk, lawn and ivy from the garden.

Why do you need edger blocks? Isn't the concrete sidewalk enough?

If the soil needs to be held back by the blocks, why not just dig out the soil and put it on the bed? That makes the bed deeper and you can use those edger blocks somewhere else. As far as blocks on the sidewalk side separating the lawn from the sidewalk....what's up with that?

Mike

In May 2015, I added a 4-inch layer of bark mulch on top of the soil.

The mulch has prevented weeds, reduced water usage and improved the "curb appeal" of my garden.

The edger blocks prevent the bark mulch from spreading into the lawn and adjacent gardens and onto the sidewalk but the edger blocks do not "hold back" the soil.

The easy way to amend your soil is to mulch it regularly, renewing the mulch as it thins. As the mulch breaks down, earthworms will pull organic material down into the soil for you, doing most of the work. Mulch also holds in soil moisture, and prevents weeds from sprouting.