I want to make some flower beds for shrubs, flowers and plants in my backyard along the fence line. I estimate about 120 feet worth with a zig zag round pattern coming out around 1.5 to 3 feet from the fence. The ground is also clay with barely any topsoil (you know- the builders special).
I was thinking about getting a tiller and lots of tripple mix and cutting and mixing in everything but I'm not sure if this is good or a bad mistake. I figure renting a bin and hauling out the dirt is a lot of work too and expensive. Or, is there companies/people that do this for you (for a modest price). I'm from the mississauga, Ontario area and don't want to spend a fortune.

PLEASE HELP!

Check the Soil, Compost, Mulch forum on interbay mulch/lasangna beds/sheet composting.

This is how I make a new flower/shrub bed:
Outline the spot, lay several sheets of newspaper or cardboard over the area, wet it down, pile all kinds of organic materials: leaves, shredded paper, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, manure, compost, straws, grass clippings, etc. any organic materials you have on hands will do, except meat. I then top off with soil and start planting into pocket of soil in the cooking compost.

Very simple and not much expense involved. Please, do check the FAQ on the Soil, Compost, Mulch forum. You'll get a lot of practical and interesting ideas on how to improve your soil condition.

Have fun. :-)

Here is a shot of the yard. The depth of the curve in front of the plum tree is 12 feet deep.

In this picture you can just see the stepping stones in the bed.

Hope this helps,

Danni

Anyhow, we hauled in 20 cubic yards of topsoil and spread it over the whole yard. The yard was grass/weeds and one narrow bed along the fence. We covered everything with the topsoil (had to move a few perennials around and buried a few others but it all worked out). Where we live, the ground sinks due to the uneven decomposition of the subsoil which is muskeg. We have to redo the whole yard every 10 years or so. Once the topsoil was spread and pretty well leveled, we laid the sod and cut out the beds. I used spray paint to outline the beds before we put the sod down and then cut the sod to fit with a knife. Winter came so we took a break.

In the spring, we added manure and peatmoss to improve the topsoil and dug in the whole thing by hand. We then planted the perennials. To keep the soil from compacting, I don't walk in the beds themselves, just on the stepping stones.

This past fall, we shredded the leaves from our trees and put them down as mulch. I am going to leave the leaves there over the summer to feed the soil and serve as mulch. So far, most of my perennials seem to have survived as most are peeking out of the ground.

Hope that my ramblings answered your questions.