Knowledgebase

Raised garden bed soil #926507

Asked March 22, 2026, 3:05 PM EDT

Hello and thank you for taking my question. I have three garden beds that I use for a variety of herbs and vegetables. They are mostly full with raised garden bed soil that I got last year. I'd like to use most of that soil again, but I know it needs amending. What do you suggest? Can you direct me to a resource with a recipe for multi-year raised garden beds? Do I need to remove some of the soil?

Hennepin County Minnesota

Expert Response

Thank you for reaching out.

My first question would be if you have any soil (dirt) in your mix?  If it is solely a garden mix, there may be more you have to do as most mixes have only enough nutrients for one season. The ideal soil mixture for a raised bed is a mixture of around 2/3 to 1/2 topsoil and 1/2 to 1/3 plant-based compost. If the topsoil contains a lot of clay, you may also add some sand to create a more loamy soil texture.

If you don’t have any real soil, I’d suggest you take out maybe one fourth of the mix and add new that consists of compost, top soil and some of your garden mix. You can google for utube videos on how to mix soil for raised beds.   Keep in mind that regular, heavy applications of compost can build up phosphorus and soluble salts in the soil, which can burn the roots of small seedlings.

If you’ve used black dirt, you may want to do a soil test to see exactly what you need to add.  It also wouldn’t hurt to add a form of compost and mix it in.

You want to rotate where you plant your crops in the beds.  Also watch for compacted soil as it does not allow the plant roots to breath.

I hope this helps.

Deb Kroon Replied March 22, 2026, 6:51 PM EDT

Loading ...