Thanks for the responses guys. Just want to clarify that I had researched the topic of raised bed/soil on the forums before and thats why I decided to go ahead with the soil compost mix. I will be adding OM to this so with time the fertility will improve. My main concern was with the timing, since it is close to spring and didn't know if there is enough time for the things to settle down. I have read about pine/bark tying up nitrogen if used fresh but hopefully a year or so of use should take care of that. On a related note, since I am not sure about the fertility of the soil delivered ( the compost was probably mixed last season), should I top dress an inch or so of compost while planting or should I wait and watch the plants for nutritional deficiences and then add accordingly?

Best echinacea I've ever planted happened when I was completely redoing a garden. I needed to scrape off the existing sod throughout, thus comes the problem of what to do with it. I stacked and stacked sod artistically ;) on the back and sides of my planned flower beds. I dislike flat gardens, they need 'flow'. Once the area was ready for the next layer, I had the big truck drop yards of half yard debris compost and half mushroom compost. Ordering this in very early spring, before most gardeners are out and about here, gives the best compost since it's been composting over the fall and winter. Ordering later it's a gamble how mature the stuff will be, as is the nature of what they are selling. If it's still too new, it's just not enough for plants to grow in. We hauled and hauled all that compost to cover the existing beds, then piled and piled it on my new sod piles. BTW the soil was all clay, which can be a good thing here since it retains all the minerals and 'secret ingredients'. Turned out the new 'raised beds came out with between maybe 8 and 15 inches of compost. I built them higher than the final goal since as that sod broke down it was going to sink. Echinacea was one of my first picks for this garden since I now had well draining soil that would stay well draining, plus it was full sun. Then OMG... echinacea on steroids ! I know echinaceas.. they are a staple here so one sees them in a variety of gardens and situations. I've seen some beauties but never like the ones I put in this garden. I did not buy any special types, just the same types I've used before. Yes, come fall there was plenty of thinning and shuffling . But the comments from other gardeners in the neighborhood than had watched them through the season made up for the extra work I created for myself. Dang that was a lot of work and those darn plants had dug deep and were hanging on. Learned my lesson. I'm sure even with the big difference between our climates, this probably has some worth as a success story. The trick would be to find the best source of compost mix. You might ask at a smaller specialty perennial nursery in your area. They should know the suppliers and be able to recommend, since they want success for you as a customer. Then there's always chatting with gardeners nearby. They probably have already eliminated to lesser quality suppliers from experience.

I would be torn, personally. I have a box in the front with four squares of peas in compost only. I have a box in my backyard with six squares of the same varieties in mel's mix. These were planted at exactly the same time. I know there are too many variables to count, but the mel's mix peas are definitely taller and more mature by several inches. The compost only peas are all around four inches tall. The Mel's mix peas are almost all more than a foot tall trellising nicely. I'm a bit surprised because the leaves in the back are also larger. It could be anything: sun, placement, or garden gnomes, but the most obvious difference is the mel's mix. Just my 2 cents.

You will find a lot of disagreement about whether sod needs to be removed or not, but if you plan on putting a raised bed, 6 plus inches, over the sod there is no need to remove it since the raised bed will smother the grass. On the other hand I have created numerous ground level planting beds simply by covering the existing sod with newspaper/cardboard and covering that with shredded leaves and that has killed the grass growing there and left the soil in a very good workable condition. There is nothing wrong with clay that adequate amounts of organic matter will not help, in time. Texas A & M does a good job of soil testing, and you have the added benefit of having a resource readily available to answer questions from both the horticulturist and maybe Master Gardeners. Visit the campus and you will find there are demonstration and trail gardens, not just farm studies. In addition to the soil tests done by Texas A & M you might want to dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsâ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to9 a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what your soil looks like.