If I were doing it at my house, with my black gumbo soil, I would do about 50% native soil, 20% compost, 20% finely shredded bark (Lowe's calls it landscapers mix here) and about 10% sphagnum peat moss. The peat moss adds nothing except acidity, but we need that here.

Your plan sounds like a good one. Have your beds thought through when you start. Know where you plan to put each one so that everything you do works toward that final goal. That way you won't end up with a bunch of lumps in your yard.

You'll need to start your own compost pile if you intend to keep making beds. It is a lot better than bought compost and a lot cheaper.

Good luck with it. I did that about 20 years ago and was very pleased with the result. It took about a year to do the ones across the back of the property. (That's a lot of digging in really hard dirt.) I finally hired someone to do the last part, as I was working a lot then. It was all torn down when we added the workshop in the back yard. I have to come up with a new plan now. It won't include that kind of bed preparation, though.

bk

Thanks bkay