From what you describe, the lasagna method might be preferable, but I would do at least one bed built from purchased soil and compost. You will want to cover the ground well with some kind of barrier to prevent the existing vegetation from growing up through your beds, cardboard and multiple layers of newspaper are favored materials. You should start accumulating lasagna materials now, and if there is not too much snow on the ground, could in fact start the building process. The "green" material will likely freeze, and therefor remain "green" until warmer temps allow the decomposition process to start. In the lasagna beds, you will be able to grow tomatoes and squashes (and some other things) without having to incorporate much actual soil, they can survive the processes of decomposition going on below them, The beds built with soil and compost will be better suited to those crops that require a more mature soil, and those that prefer a finer tilth... salad greens and root crops spring first to mind. Other plants might be most advantageously started in pots until the lasagna beds have reached a stage of decomposition that is less injurious to tender roots. The pots could be situated in areas where you plan future beds, thus providing a way to kill the existing vegetation in the soil beneath them without having to dig (which you seem to want to avoid) or sacrifice ground. There are big differences between (and among) purchased composts and soils. Be careful that what you are buying is truly what you want. You don't need a lot provided your native soil is relatively healthy, though the texture may not be ideal. If you have a native population of earthworms, they will eventually create the soil you will benefit from most, if not, introducing them, from a near-by source, when you start your beds, will go a long way towards creating better tilth. And skip that liquid stuff for now. If you want to buy something in a bottle for your garden, I'd recommend a nice crisp white to accompany the salads and grilled veggies you'll be enjoying this summer.

Go to STarbucks, Krystal, Waffle House, Cracker Barrel and ask them to save you coffee grounds and put a ton of coffee grounds in that soil after amending it with a top layer. The worms will come to the coffee grounds. There are basically three types of worms needed to irrigate the soil. If you do lots of coffee grounds after applying a top layer of soil and gypsum annually, you will see a definite improvement. I also used corn meal on mine which helped. Someone told me to use it for blackspot which is not worth the time it takes to put it out for blackspot but it did help with the coffee grounds and gypsum. We had to add a French drain on one side of the garden but subsequently we got the soil draining pretty good. The French drain is probably a breeding place for snakes or voles now. :)

I think I would prefer an axe of any size over a mattock so maybe you can borrow one before buying. My mattock would just bounce off of large roots. I have never seen root guard but the contractor said he wants to use as little as possible because it is expensive. It sells by the foot so must be at least a little flexible. The Hi-Lift jack is one used by off roaders and there will be many pictures of them on Google. In some off road situations, you would be really glad you brought one along and they have many uses in addition to jacking up vehicles. It would not be good for very many cars although I got my Camaro out of a rut in Wyoming many years ago. The alternative walk for help was not very appealing in my location at the time. My Hi-Lift is the four foot high model and has done everything I asked of it. There are some knock-offs offered by Harbor Freight and others but if buying one again, I would still go for the real thing. I finally gave away my large tiller after owning it for 30 years. It seldom got used after I bought my Mantis because my entire yard had been tilled deep. I would not hurry to buy a Mantis either because I doubt that they are suited to all situations. A wrecking bar is a bar of steel about six feet tall (approx) and about an inch or so in diameter. They are really useful sometimes. When I bought my house, we had a bed of Bird of Paradise plants and I liked them until my wife wanted to move them. After finally getting those things out of the ground, they went into the garbage. A neighbor offered me a giant Bird of Paradise once as long as I dug it up. I dug for a while and got nowhere so it is still in his yard. I don't want one that bad. Bamboo is also something that I would never put in my yard after removing all that were left to me by the previous owner of my house.

My gardens were all nearly unworkable clay when I started in 1998. Today, they all have beautiful, workable soil. I used TONS of compost...I bought humus in bags from Walmart, it's cheap and worked great. It was backbreaking work double digging all of those beds, but the effort plus time took care of the clay. Any time I re-planted an area, I would take the time to incorporate more humus or compost...it made every job big. There was a soil conditioner that was very expensive which I found at Bachman's in 20 or 40 # bags. I believe it made a HUGE difference, probably even more/faster than the Humus. It was in the 3rd or 4th year that I re-dug my gardens and mixed it in...I was really getting tired of that clay! Probably mixed more humus in at the same time, knowing me. My gardens got overgrown and were unmanaged the 5th and 6th year, as I was ill. When I went back to working them again, I had beautiful, friable soil that is now a pleasure to garden in. Very occasionally, I find a hunk of clay, but it's usually near an edge of shrubs or something that didn't get worked much with the humus or the soil conditioner. Bachman's has a good article on working with clay...to their credit, they don't try to sell you the conditioner and state that the jury's still out on that. I think it worked wonders, but since I did a lot of humus, too, it was probably the combination. And, somewhere along the line, I think I put gypsum in there, too. Gypsum is usually quite cheap. For the conditioner, I'm not sure if the brand was Shultz, or not, might have been Turface (Profile) or something else. In fact, I think the Turface people may actually sell the product to Shultz. bachman's link: http://www.bachmans.com/Garden-Care/divHomePage.html?cnb=GardenCare&categoryCode=02&pageIndex=_pageIndexToken_workingWithClaySoil Here's a description of the Shultz product, I nabbed it from the Amazon site for you: Instantly improves any soil! Turns hard-to-work clay soil into a loose, rich growing medium - permanently. Adds thousands of storage spaces that hold air and water in nearly perfect balance in the soil. Clay Soil Conditioner improves drainage and aeration in heavy, compacted clay soils and helps improve water and nutrient retention in dry, sandy soils. Made from 100% natural fuller's earth, this unique mineral is kiln-fired creating ceramic granules that work to improve soil structure. Just one application lasts year after year! Clay Soil Conditioner? is a stable mineral that will not break down or compact over time. Use at the rate of 15% by volume: (1 part Clay Soil Conditioner? to 6 or 7 parts soil.) Here is a link that might be useful: another review for soil conditioner