I just tilled the lawn and placed the bed on the fresh tilled soil. What weeds grow through 6 inches of fresh soil after being weakened by tilling? Any how it has been two years now and only a very few weeds came through the edges where the soil pulled back when it dries down. They were no problem at all . In fact I wait for the few weeds I have to grow so I have some to pull for old times sake. and yes I have plenty of weeds in my lawn. I do not spray them. Cutting the soil and weed roots to a depth of 5-8 inches along side the beds with a flat spade will stop all the invasive roots from entering the beds. At least where I live. Don't turn the soil just cut and leave in place. Curt

As a general rule of thumb it is not a good idea to put any soil over any mulch. All soil, no matter where you are, is old, even that "triple mix" is old soil even though it may have been mixed recently. Generally "triple mix" is 1 part soil, 1 part peat moss, and 1 part compost that people add to the soil they already have. What any soil needs is compost, or any other vegetative waste. No soil needs any more of the mineral component of any soil mix.

We have an organic source of compost from our local dump. I usually get a truckload about every other year and use as much of my own compost as I can. I have started letting one bed go unplanted each year and composting straight on the bed in a bin. There's still room to plant something small like basil while the box sits there in the middle. About every 3rd year, I buy a load of "garden mix" from the organic dump place and top it off. I have a very small tiller that I mix it all in with (only about 10 lbs) Truckloads are really the way to go. With 20 forever beds, you can always find a place for the soil/compost! Nancy

On another trip to Home Depot, The HD guy was kind enough to "carefully" situate eight 60# bags of Quickcrete cement (480# total) throughout the car! I used the same Toyota method of calculating five adults (approximately five 100# Japanese people -- maybe realistically 1 adult and 4 kids equating about 500#?) I figured I was safe for the 1-mile trek home. I shoved the Quickcrete out the door and it's still sitting in a lump -- thank God for gravity! I can't imagine that much laminate flooring in a Prius but given CBS 60 Minutes' recent expose on Lumber Liquidators China supplier problem of mislabeling its laminate flooring as CARB2 compliant when it clearly wasn't, I'll believe anything. I'm ready to rip out my LL flooring in favor of real wood or tile... That shall be my next project after I finish my garden beds and my new money tree starts to bear fruit...