Tony Pacc wrote:
The previous owner made a flower bed of mostly clay soil,it has about 2"
mulch,is there any way I can improve this soil without removing all that
mulch,like putting manure on top of the mulch hoping it will work it's way
into the soil.Its a pretty large area if I have to remove all that mulch.



If the mulch that is already there is either fine or is coarse and
already starting to break down I'd simply turn it over and mix it into
the soil as deeply as I could. In fact, that quantity probably isn't
sufficient if the clay is as nasty as my local sort -- add several more
inches of compost to the existing mulch and turn that over. In my
experience it can take a huge quantity of organic material amendment to
improve clay. I've even resorted to adding perlite to lighten the
heaviest sort. Of course you'll need to replace the mulch on top after
planting.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com