This isn't rocket science :-)

Either of your ideas, 'A' or 'B' will work. Compost and whatever passes for 'top soil' is going to give you what ever you need in a raised bed.

Thanks, y'all! :) I think I just needed some reassurance that I wasn't about to go headfirst into something and fudge the whole thing.

Grubby, I'm in Georgia. The soil here is either delightful, workable clay-type soil or, in my yard's case, red, barren and hard as a brick. On the upside, my German Shepherds have made themselves a wonderful dirt track to run on. :P

So if I understand, the compost gives the soil a little more "oomph" and drainability and such things. Fertilizing is still needed, depending on the specific needs of the plants. Would one mix compost AND fertilize at the same time, though? O.o

Before you go adding fertilizer, get your soil tested by a lab. Georgia has very inexpensive testing through the County Extension program. Get the S2 and S6 on the fee schedule and S5 for $15 is a great price.

Georgia Extension

Fertilize to feed plants - it is not something you do to soil. Sometimes I mix some fertilizer into the soil of a planting area just before planting seeds or small plants, but I am more likely to fertilize to ammend the soil after the plants are up and growing. That way I am providing the fertilizer where it is needed to support the plants that are growing. Fertilizer applied to soil, without plants to start using it,will just leach out with the rains or be used up in normal soil processes. Kinda defeats the purpose.

While many tell you that you need something called "topsoil" they also fail to tell you what they mean by "topsoil". "Topsoil" is defined as the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace and it may be something worth using or it most likely will not be. Many of those
I talk with think "topsoil" and loam are the same thing, they are not.

An ideal garden soil would be a mixture of about 95 percent mineral (the sand, silt, and clay particles) and about 5 percent organic matter. If you really could get about 50 percent organic matter mixed into the soil you could have a bog, a soil that holds too much water and causes plants to drown. The soil I have gardened in here for years is Lake Michigan beach sand and even by adding what some consider extremely large amounts of organic matter I have not been able to get the level of OM in the soil above about 8 percent, and that has been ideal.

Plants evolved eons ago getting nutrients from the Soil Food Web, those wee critters that convert organic matter into something plants can use. Dumping fertilizer onto soil to feed plants is something only about 200 years, or so, old, much too new to really do the job of feeding plants since they have not adapted yet. Feed the soil and the soil will feed the plants.

Mel's Mix is basically a soilless potting mix and it needs a lot of perlite, or vermiculite, to provide proper drainage because it is all organic matter and would tend to hold moisture too well.

kimmq is kimmsr.

If you're making raised beds over clay, first dig and loosen the clay underneath. Add some of the topsoil on top, turn over or till again to blend with the top layer of clay, then add the rest. Or something approximately to that effect. This will give some transition between the new and native so plant roots don't stop cold when they hit the clay. It will also help drainage and water retention in the hot summer. Eventually you'll get a nice clay loam going as it's turned over for planting.

Don't stress too much about the exact mix or what topsoil actually is. Just don't use 100% organic matter, and try to get topsoil that is not all clay. You'll be fine.

Avoid tilling or digging clay when it's soaking wet.

Tox, define what you mean by "topsoil".

My "topsoil" would be sand while at my sisters, 6 miles west, would be clay.

Topsoil is whatever the OP is able to find in their area. Aside from my comment about avoiding heavy clay - since she already has that - its exact composition would not have much of an effect on my recommendations. The fact that it varies all over the place (as you pointed out), and yet plants generally grow in it, especially with a little compost added, means it is not that critical. The discussion is about whether or not to use soil at all in these beds, and/or how much organic matter to use, and what kind. Let's not get lost in the weeds.

"Topsoil" has no meaning. It is defined as the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace. Except in containers, all growing medium should contain the mineral, the sand, silt, clay, portion of soil with some organic matter in it. "Topsoil" may, or may not, have organic matter in it. My discussions with many people over many years tells me that most of them think of loam when told to get some "topsoil" and that ain't what it is.

kimmq is kimmsr

" "Topsoil" has no meaning. It is defined as..."

With all due respect this makes no sense - you've just given it a definition.

Clearly the OP in this thread is planning to mix in plenty of compost, if you look at the original post.

Angelina ... "in my yard's case, red, barren and hard as a brick"

You can do wonders by using thick mulches and lots of compost right over the clay. If it stays moist it stays workable.

Plant OKRA ... it loves the heat and clay and has humongous root systems that break up the clay. Slice it off at the base in the fall and let the roots decay in the dirt. Same with any vegetable you plant - leave the roots in the clay.

I've never gardened in Georgia clay, but Arizona's hard-packed adobe dirt is close to it. I dug holes for my first veggies with a mattock and covered the bed with 6 inches of mulch... several years later, with no tilling, I can dig anywhere in that bed with a hand trowel.

I have clay that turns to brick! There's usually a 2 week period spring and fall when you can dig without it being either concrete or a muddy mess!

What we have done when building each bed (a couple per year) is to break up the area (4x8) about a forkful deep, add horse manure (from freecycle), water in, let sit, water in again, construct raised bed (with hardware cloth for gophers in our case), add garden mix from a soil place, NOT bags from your local hardware store! A few inches, then water in again, fill the rest of the raised bed watering as you go.

I then till in (have a tiny tiller that only goes about 4"deep, great for raised beds!) home made compost each spring, but only make enough for a couple of beds, so on off years I mix in some organic fertilizer.

It seems like every other year or so I need to get a truckload of soil to beef things up (about 7 beds) and occasionally if I come up short, I'll get a bag of some sort of Sh*t from the BB store to add in.

I've got to say that yesterday I emptied one of my compost bins and the soil underneath is to die for! I could probably dig down a couple of feet, no prob, where as other areas would be back breaking! Nancy

Yeah, the soil underneath a compost pile or bin gets really delicious. I move mine around for that reason. I have one plastic cylinder bin that has to be moved anyway just to get the stuff out of it (the doors at the bottom are useless) so it gets set in a different spot each time. Might as well take advantage of that wonderful stuff leaching out of the bottom, and the worms and everyone else who flock there for the feast.

Those that wish to better understand soil may want to watch "Symphony of the
Soil". It may be found on line although the whole 104 minutes needs to be purchased. Just understand you do not get soil that good without adding enough organic matter. Adding more of the mineral component, as is done when adding something called "topsoil" or "garden soil" which is mostly the mineral component of soil, does little.

Perhaps this rephrasing might help. "Topsoil", as used by most, has no meaning. The definition I used above comes from several dictionary's and is not something I made up.

A soil made up of 50 percent compost and 50 percent "topsoil" has too much organic matter and may be a soil that is too wet for the plants.

A soil that is 60 percent "topsoil", 30 percent compost, and 10 percent "soilless growing media" has too much organic matter just as the above.

For those two think swamp or marsh.