Soil

[Oxo01]

Me again
I need to top up the soil in my garden boarders then I intend to put some type of edging around to seperate them from the grass.
My soil is clayish so can be hard to dig.
Any recomedations on suitable soil for compacted / clay soil as ive been told not to get just normal top soil.
Thanks

I’d search gardeners world

clay soils need a lot of grit and sand worked into them usually

Thank you
I was thinking to.just leave it untill after winter but think its best to do now
Edited to say before I had the garden done despite bring hard to dig up it still drained ok no pooling
I even tested it by digging a hole and put bucket of water in in and it drained ok

Dont add grit and sand to clay. The more organic matter the better. You can buy something called soil improver which i think has something which helps break the clay up a bit. You want to add a good 6-10cm depth over the whole bed and repeat every couple of years. You will end up with amazing soil.

Compost. Home made is best but you can get green waste compost from the council. The worms will pull it in and improve the soil underneath.

If you don't have worms (dig a spadeful and you should find at least a few in there) you are better off mulching with autumn leaves or grass clippings now. That'll get the worm activity up and most of it will rot away over winter and improve your soil. Then you can top up with compost in spring if you need more height. It's a great chance to improve your soil as you add depth, so great question!

Put the edging in first.

Then buy well rotted manure, or bags of cheap compost on sale at the garden centre, or use the bottom of your compost bin, or anything else high in organic matter and spread that over the top and do not dig it in.

If you get any leaves this autumn, put them on top. Do not dig them in.

Leave them for the winter.

When putting plants in, scrape the mulch which is everything above the soil level, to the side, plant the plant, water in, put the soil back and tamp down firmly, rewater and then pat the mulch back around the plant on top of the soil.

You can put plants in during autumn or spring but leave December, January and February out of it. These times are really for pruning only.

Thank you all helpfull replys
I belive the landscraper put manure soil down before the lawn so I think it also was put all over including the boarders.
So shall I still add extra on the boarders as its so hard as well
i need to mow ( waiting for a replacement mower as new one i got had a fault so sent it back)

I will then level up border / grass for edging so I will have plenty of grass clippings.

Agree with bulky organic matter - compost/manure/mushroom compost. You can buy a bulk bag for £120 or thereabouts online. Don’t get lots of plastic bags from the garden centre.

I put a combination of compost and manure in my worm-free clay flowerbeds. I then got very excited the first time that I saw worms there!

I'm going to order some bulk bags of compost and topsoil, plus manure (I live and work rurally, so a lot of places have signs up offering manure from various animals!), in the hope of improving my stubbornly clay lawn. Good luck, OP! Sadly, it is not a quick and easy process, but it will be worth it to have a lovely garden in the end.

I picked up worms after rain on dog walks and brought them back to live in my garden, which seems to have worked! Though I need more compost too.

Put in as much compost as you can. If you have summer planters or grow bags, empty the spent compost onto your soil. Do that every year, never waste it, it's invaluable. Stables will often give away manure - make enquiries in your area. It needs to be well rotted before adding to your soil.