On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:16:36 -0400, "Jack" wrote:

Hello,
When gardeners talk about 'amending soil with compost', what does that
mean??
.
Here is my question...Say I am building raised beds. I want to plant shrubs
in the raised beds. I am using lousy soil from another part of the yard. I
will amend the soil....But...is it important to put compost in the entire
bed, or within an area around the roots, and/or what??
.
Thank you.


Two schools:

1) Amend soil when you want to plant shrubs or anything non-native and
be prepared to add compost yearly to keep those non-native plants
happy and healthy.

2) Loosen the soil, plant the native or adapted plants which are good
for your conditions and backfill them with the same soil without
amending it, but putting an inch or two of compost on top of the soil
and very gently mix it to a depth of an inch and cover that with
minimum of two inches of shredded mulch. Do not use deco chips.