Start by contacting you counties office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension service (supported by Alabama A & M and Auburn Universities) about having a good, reliable soil test to find out the pH of that soil and the amounts of the major nutrients in that soil. You might also want to use these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. 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. 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 drains� 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. 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 you have now and help you determine what you may need to do. Your plants could be having problems with nutrients because 1. they are not available, 2. nutrients are not available because of the soils pH, 3. the Soil Food Web is not yet working and feeding your plants. Spraying pesticides without identifying the pest problem is not organic. Keep in mind that Neem products are pretty broad spectrum poison just an most other organic pesticides and the synthetic ones.

If you have Bermuda grass, the best solution is raised beds. You can till up a spot, but one little sprig of Bermuda gets in there from the wind, the lawn mower, or weed trimmer, and you might as well start over again. A raised bed about a foot high should be sufficient in keeping the invasive grass and weeds out. Put some newspapers or something on the bottom that will eventually break down. I used landscape timbers nailed together with long guttering nails which is a little more attractive than cinder blocks, but the timbers tend to warp and degrade over time. There shouldn't be too much clay in the native soil around here, but I'm not an expert. If you are thinking about having a load of dirt brought in, I would look at it first to ensure it is what you want and is free of weeds and rock. I just have a little spot, so I bought several bags of Green Country top soil available at Lowe's. It has some weeds in it, but it is nice soil. I live a few blocks from the the river, so the native soil is a rich sandy loam. It is not as good as everyone says. During hot weather, my lawn is nearly impossible to keep watered. During rainy weather, it stays too wet. Mulching is a must. Everything should have 2-3" of mulch to hold the water in and the weeds under control. I think cedar mulch is worth the extra $1 or two a bag. It takes a few years to break down and is a natural bug and slug repellent. You can also pick up a truck load of free mulch from Tulsa's green waste site. There is plenty of it after the December ice storm. The free mulch only lasts about a year, but it makes a very nice compost.

I think you already have a good plan. I wouldn't put fabric in the bottom, because it will be useless in my opinion. You didn't specify how deep your bed will be, and depth will dictate what kinds of perrenials you plant. I'd go at least 16", with the sand/compost/bark mixture. About 50% compost would work pretty good, I think. I recommend planting things so that any time of the year - something is flowering. Maybe...winter jasmine, forsythia (during cold season), and some type of evergreen like juniper, then some type of plants/flowers that will be in bloom during the warm months. Check the local extension office for suggested varieties for your zone, and they should have some free handouts on growing perrenials. EG Here is a link that might be useful: EG's garden blog

Sydney - to put it bluntly (my apologies for doing so) but those are VERY small beds and they won't grow nearly the amount of things you have planned. Plus it is a very crowded and non-functional layout for many reasons that I and others have hinted at. That is why i said do NOT let the existing space dictate to you. The odds are it wasn't very successful there anyway. I understand the desire to have things confined to a neat little space all together but with that as a goal you create many gardening problems for both you and the plants and in the long run limits your success. So I strongly suggest you give re-vamping the entire area as much possible. Putting the boxes end to end along the fence and way from the patio and spaced a bit out from the fence will improve things a great deal. Just put several layers of cardboard down on any grass areas and set the beds on top of them if necessary. Asparagus never remains in a nice neat little space anyway and it doesn't do well competing with other plants. Plus its water and nutrient needs are quite different from many other vegetables. So if you really want it find another, much larger place for it all on its own. Plant the crowns 12" apart and at least 8" deep and recognize that they will get 5-6 feet tall and will fall all over the place unless contained in some fashion. Dave