Thanks for your help Dave. I tried searching for landscaping mix online at some of the stores I use but couldn’t find anything specifically called landscaping mix. Does it go by another name? I found something called soil conditioner by Frey. This is the description:

Organic Pine Soil Conditioner is one of our finest mulchs and breaks down into soil year after year for excellent aeration and soil conditioning. Can be used as a mulch or soil additive that can be mixed into gardens, garden beds, lawns, and when planting trees/shrubs. This is one of our top selling mulchs used by landscapers and home owners for many uses. Quantity pricing available in store and wholesale pricing available to contractors.

No that is just a soil conditioner. Google local landscaping contractors and/or plant nurseries and call them. If they don't stock their own mix they can put you onto the local trail. Without knowing where you live we can't help you narrow down the search.

Dave

Sometimes they call it 'garden mix'. Something like 1/2 quality top soil, 1/4 compost, 1/4 compost manure. It will settle a lot the first year so it will usually be necessary to add a few inches of compost after the seasons over.

Ok thanks for the advice. There are so many options/names it is overwhelming. I will try to get in contact with some landscapers/nurseries. Just wondering though what you would think of just doing a mix of essentially 1/3 native clay soil, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss. I live in southeastern PA.

Maybe more like 1/2 native clay and then 1/4 of the other 2 should work OK the first year and you might want to include some composted manure in there as well. The beds will be a work in progress and improve each year (hopefully!).

I agree with Lone Jack's proportions. I like to use some composted manure, mushroom compost, and leaf mold - which is worth it's weight in gold - as amendments and then work the amendments into an equal amount of clay, usually digging down about a foot.

To mix in the amendments you have to turn the soil to break up compacted clay, add air, and mix the amendments.. But that is a one time thing. After that it can stay put as long as you don't walk on it.

So, with the amount of compost would you add a fertilizer? I have Ecoscraps all purpose 555 mix. I also have ecoscraps tomato and vegetable fertilizer.

Whenever I started a new bed at my old place that had heavy clay, I would break up the soil as deep as possible (we only had a 2 week window of time before the clay turned to concrete!), add composted horse manure, water it in several times til it stopped settling, line with hardware cloth for gophers, then fill with a garden mix from a local organic place, watering in every few inches. We used mostly railroad ties, so that was about 6-8". I had mostly fantastic gardens using this method!

I would top a couple of beds with a load of compost each year and til it in. The other beds would get a smaller dose of home made compost, then switch. Worked for me!

Sadly, I left my country property to become a townie! I still have a little plot, though. Nancy

"So, with the amount of compost would you add a fertilizer? I have
Ecoscraps all purpose 555 mix. I also have ecoscraps tomato and
vegetable fertilizer."

Compost and fertilizer are not the same thing. They aren't interchanegable. Compost improves the soil and feeds the soil bacteria. Fertilizer feeds the plants.

Never heard of that brand name so no idea what it provides in the way of nutrients but any well balanced fertilizer can work. Hundreds of choices both organic and synthetic.

Dave