Improving my soil

The previous owners of this house built two long raised beds in the back garden, and appear to have filled them with the excess clay/soil they dug out to form their patio and decking area, then sprinkled some compost on top of the clay. I dont think it has been dug over in the past 7 years. I made a tentative start today and I forsee many hours ahead of me before I even get the compacted clay broken up.

Oddly, the plants which I also inherited appear to thrive in this environment, despite there only being approximately 1-2 cm of "workable" soil on the surface. I (hope!) I've attached a couple of before and during photos for comparison. Any tips appreciated....I'm not the fittest of ladies, and the area is difficult to access with a garden fork, but I'm doing my best (the picture with the flowers is the other bed which I'm not working on yet)

 

It looks more like compacted soil rather than clay.
The best thing to use to open it up is organic matter - if you have a compost heap that is the best stuff to use, or some sort of manure would be ideal, anything but pure mushroom compost, which contains a lot of chalk, will do the job.

If you're not able to dig it in, then try and roughly turn over what you have in the beds leaving big lumps and spread the manure on top. Frosts and rain will incorporate it into the soil over winter.

 

Many thanks. To be honest, most of it I can't even get the fork through to turn it over...I think I was lucky with the section I did manage this morning. I will see if there is somewhere local that I can get manure....there are allotments next to my estate, so I might try to befriend an allotment holder for some advice

 

If you don't have access to a compost heap @LindaB, most garden centres stock suitable bagged organic matter such as Farmyard Manure, Soil Improver or Soil Conditioner. I'd add some horticultural grit as well to improve drainage. You may find that a local garden centre will deliver for free or at a reasonable cost. Ideally your planters will be open to the soil below, it's worth checking, if you can make it that distance , to widen your range of planting options.

 

My garden is the same atm.
We've had no noticeable rain for about 6 weeks and the soil is like concrete.
When we eventually get some rain it should then be much easier to turn.

 

If the plants are thriving, then I'd suggest not digging - wouldn't that just disturb a multilayered soil ecosystem that's working well?

My experience has been that if I want more workable soil, what works is to cover it with organic material (home compost, local free old manure etc - whatever is cheap and easy), and then let the worms pull it down and open up the soil.

 

I agree with Stephen Southwest. If you can get local organic farmyard manure then there is nothing, absolutely nothing, as good a soil improver. Then let the worms do the work for you.

 

The only thing the previous owners have done wrong is- they haven't lined right to the top, and the plants have been put in too low, so that makes it difficult to top up the beds [soil level is also very low] because the plants will get buried. Ideally, you'd take them out, line the beds properly, fill with plenty of organic matter, as described, and then replant with the plant's root systems much higher.
The soil level in raised beds will always drop over time, and require topping up, and that's difficult if the plants are 6 inches lower than they should be. Not a problem if it's annuals, but if it's perennials and/or shrubs, it can cause problems if the soil's heaped too high round them.

 

If its really clay soil, I noticed a huge improvement with using X6. It broke down the clay soil as long as I watered the beds first.
However like pete said, it doesn't look like clay soil. If you can find wet leaves in Autumn, then mix them in with the farm manure and turn the soil over the winter now and then.

 

It largely depends on what plants are in the beds. If it's all annuals, it's easier because you can add any type of organic matter without the fear of killing off anything, but you can't go digging in and around it all if there's perennials unless you remove them first. It looks like it's the latter though.
That low soil level, and no waterproofing above it, is the main problem IMO, but unless there's no plan to alter the planting in any way, it can just be left as it is. If new planting is to be added, or if it's to be changed, that's where the problem lies.
If there's no planting in it, you can add loads of organic matter and forget digging. That's by far the easiest method anyway.

 

Almost all Household waste recycling centres (tips) will sell pas100 compost/soil improver in small 50 litre sacks and load your car for you.
or buy direct :
Peat-Free Compost, Topsoil and Horticultural Products
Apply up to 100mm deep and leave for the winter. Soil being 'firm' is a benefit, just ensure you can open holes for planting, and refirm . Roots are designed to penetrate.

 

We can't get any by products from recycling centres here, so it'll very much depend on the area you're in. I didn't understand what you meant by 'pas100' though @infradig - what is that?

Any GC or similar has plenty of products though, so it's not difficult to get useful mulching material if you don't have a compost bin @LindaB. The biggest problem for you might be cost if you're not able to collect it yourself, and delivery can be pricey. The 6X stuff is good, but any type of soil improver will do.
There's no need to dig over beds of any kind if they have regular additions of organic matter, but that's an ongoing routine, and that soil level is the main thing to address. The soil looks very dry, so a bit of investigation is worthwhile, but only if you can manage it. Otherwise, it's adding material, but making sure plants aren't buried under it. If those beds were filled properly, most plants would be fine with that depth of material, and they'd get roots down further over time if necessary

 

Hope this is of interest and use:
Compost

 

If you are anywhere near the sea wait until after a winter high tide and rain and you can gather seaweed to mulch the beds, It has loads of nutrients.

 

Ayrshire potatoes are grown commercially in seaweed so it must be good. On another note you can let the worms do a lot of work for you. If you think you have no worms or just a few you can buy worms on line like I did. There is quite a variety of worms out there so you make a choice and pay your money.