That is definitely true about throwing the much in your garden! Weed barriers break down and weeds grow through them anyway after awhile. Total waste of money. If your soil is rock hard, it's most likely because you've toiled in the soil when it's damp or wet. I know this from experience---inexperience! lol

If you have the space, I would definitely compost! It's made my soil and beds like heaven! Helps retain moisture, draws worms and microbe life which aerates and improves the soils (especially clay. Check out the soil and compost forum! You don't have do it on a huge scale, though I do.

How big is your pond? I had one a long time ago. I want one badly, but even though I have a huge yard, I Oak tree roots everywhere, since there were 6 oaks in my backyard at one time. Only three now, but they are monsters. Do you have any pics of pond?

I don't have experience with clay soil, so I don't know if my advice would help, but in general I would do this. Take up the weed barrier. Spread a layer (about one inch) of compost on the whole garden, leaving a bit of space around the stems of the plants. Cover (again, going around the plants) with about 6 layers of newspaper. Mulch with something organic - I use shredded leaves, about 1.5-2 inches; they will settle quickly. Some people don't like the look of them but I have even, for other people, spread shredded leaves and then have put cedar mulch on top of that for aesthetics.

I mulch in late fall, after critters have found their winter homes elsewhere and the ground has frozen, (if it ever does anymore!) and then again in spring. Sometimes in the spring, when the mulch is bare and thin (and you'd be surprised how fast the leaves break down) I'll spread some compost if I have enough (and I never have enough! Not homemade, at least, so I do maybe one or even one-half a bed a year) and then put leaves down, but I find the leaves make the soil quite nice.

I can't speak from experience about the pond muck but I do think I have read that this is a good practice. Hopefully someone else will chime in on that. I second Gawdinfever's rec - visit the soil and compost forum. You'll get some good help there!

Good luck!
:)
Dee

got room for.. or want another bed???

build a new bed this summer ... then in fall.. move all the plants in this bed to that bed ... then next year.. renovate this bed ....

look for a top soil dealer in your area ... who can deliver the soil you need.. and then get out your wheelbarrow and get to work ...

whether or not you fling fish poop all over your yard is up to you .. lol ... but at a min.. it should go in the compost pile ... until it dries and mixes with some other compost ...

you are over whelmed.. because you think you have to do this all in one weekend .. crikey.. get out of that box ... if you have it done by late fall... great .. if not.. the farmer/gardens lament fits well ... there is always next year ...

ken

Unfortunately I do not have room for another bed . I'm thinking I will try adding leaves under some mulch and maybe a little compost from store to get started and see if that helps. Maybe next year I will try to make my own. Thanks for ideas!

I would call it more of a water garden. Its small, only about 8x5 and 3 ft deep.

This may be a dumb question but if I keep adding this every year won't it start burying the plants to deep

No, if you are adding about an inch or two a year of organic material, it will break down. Like I said, I put down leaf mulch in late fall, and need to add more in spring, and then again need to add more in fall.

There are no dumb questions. :) There is only the need/desire to learn something you don't know yet.

:)
Dee

Thanks, this compost stuff is new to me so I guess I'm thinking of it like dirt. Thanks for the all the advice, I think I will be ripping the weed barrier up this weekend.

I used to live in an area of town that was a giant clay bed -- no fun. Given a choice, I'd take sand any day -- at least it's easy to dig/amend.

If it's clay, I'd till in the organic matter -- (wetted) peat moss, wood chips, leaves, compost, whatever. Otherwise, it will be years before the top layer gets pulled down deep enough to make any sort of difference in the overall soil structure. You can rent a tiller (rent a good one, not a lightweight Mantis or some such -- this is clay we're talking about).

Past a certain point (maybe 8-12") there's nothing you can do, but amending down at least 8" or so will make a difference in plant health. Digging out the plants and starting over, while a lot of work to till and prep, will be worth it in the long run and make gardening so much more pleasurable (because gardening in clay SUCKS).

ETA: After the soil is deeply and well-amended, then you just add top layers every year -- leaf mulch works great and is f-r-e-e.

When we moved here in 1999 all the soil was heavy clay. I swear you could have used it to make pottery! I made the mistake of using some of that cursed landscape fabric - fortunately just on a few paths and not in planting beds...! It didn't take long to realize that the soil under the fabric was getting hard and dense. I concluded that what was happening was that worms and other soil organisms were being blocked from reaching the surface so they could not bring organic matter down into the soil and so they moved elsewhere. When they left an area, their tunnels (which provided a route for air and water to move through the soil) rapidly collapsed, making the soil dense and hard. I removed the fabric and have never used it again in the garden. Its only use of it that I can support is under hardscaping to keep the gravel base from migrating into the soil. The fact that soil organisms move out of the area where pavers have been laid is not a big issue.

Other than on paths, I don't use bark mulches in the garden (putting down mulch in beds is good but too much work for me!) I plant densely so plants become my 'mulch' to shade the soil and limit weeds. I also leave a lot of the dead foliage on the ground to 'compost in place' and tree leaves are raked into the garden beds in the fall. Large leaves get chopped first with the lawnmower (the bag attachment is necessary for that) and oak leaves (about 1/3 of the oak leaves stay on the tree all winter and only drop off in the spring...) get sucked up and chopped with the vacuum leaf blower in the spring and spread on the beds in the spring. The other thing we did that I think was important was use a mycorrhizal supplement when planting. We did that for about 10 years but don't do it now because it has got hard to find it in garden centres and also there is probably enough of it in the soil now that it doesn't need to be added as a supplement. While our soil is still a bit heavy, there is now no sign of that horrible red clay in the top 18" or so of the soil! Most plants do well here and we rarely water unless there is an extended dry period and some plants are looking stressed. The last rain we had here this month was May 4 and the only things we have watered is part of the back lawn and a shrub that was moved late last summer and looks like it might not survive...!

So, getting rid of that landscape fabric is your first priority and then add as much organic matter as possible (mycorrhizal fungus is a natural organic matter addition to the soil that also forms a symbiotic relationship with plant roots to supply water and nutrients). Enjoy your garden!

Well I pulled up all of the weed barrier worked around all my perennials as best as I could to loosen soil and put compost down and lightly covered with mulch. Iv decided to start making my own compost and have a tumbler coming today . Iv been trying to get as much information as I can about it but one thing I can't find is this. How do you start it, do you wait until it is filled to add moisture and start turning it or do you do this as you are filling it. Thanks so much for all the help so far