Peat moss is what my dad used too, but it is no better than compost, and for several reasons it's not as good. It's probably shipped from Canada for one thing. Compost will do the same thing to improve soil texture and organic matter levels, while adding nutrients that peat doesn't have. And peat is acidic so unless your soil is very alkaline you don't need that.

7" is probably fine depending on what is beneath - is that 'grayish soil' sandy too, or silt or clay? Generally it's better to amend what you have than import unless you have a real problem soil.

As for manure, it will only burn if it's fresh and not composted. Generally what you buy in a bag will be composted and won't burn. Nothing magic about manure vs. compost made from other things, but the quality of any bagged products will vary by region and price. Look inside the bag to make sure there isn't too much soil added, undecomposed wood chips, etc.

Oh, and you can continue to improve the soil after planting by using mulches that will decompose and feed the soil - shredded leaves, grass clippings, etc. Rather than bagged cedar or cypress mulch that is designed not to decompose.

Peatmoss is a BAD idea ... if it gets dried out, it's extremely hard to get it damp again.

Just plant the roses and holly in what is there, mulch well and make sure you keep the water reliable.

Peat moss is a non renewable product and is harvested using large amounts of other non renewable resources, and that harvesting destroys wildlife habitat.

If that sandy loam held together at all meant there was some organic material in the mix that may be lacking now if none was added over time. These simple soil tests may be of some help.

1) Soil test for organic
material. 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 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, to 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.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank you everyone for advice! Turns out one side is clay. On a home test kit it says the ph is 6.5 and nitrogen is depleted and potassium is depleted. Everyone in my town recommends Cotton Bur/Cotton Gin Trash as all I need to amend clay but I've also been warned it can burn with the high nitrogen. Any opinions? Thanks!

Having a very diverse mix of organic material is better than using just one type such as that cotton processing waste which is one reason many people recommend compost since that usually is made from many different materials.

The results of home soil test kits are not very reliable, I have gotten the same pH readings testing Vinegar (an acid) and Baking Soda (an alkali) with them. While some claim cotton burr compost is the single best product to use in soils the nutrient tests show it has 1-0-1, or 1 percent Nitrogen, 0 percent Phosphorus, and 1 percent Potash. Getting numbers of good quality compost seems to be very difficult but some sources list them as 2.6-0.9-2.0 which does not tell the whole story since many nutrients in compost are not soluble which the testing looks for.

kimmq is kimmsr

Agreed on the home test kits. I have used cotton burr compost and it's great stuff. Anything that is COMPOSTED is not going to burn, if it's composted properly and completely. If it's fresh uncomposted cotton by-products, all bets are off, same as it would be for fresh manure which can definitely burn. I don't know a darn thing about nitrogen content of uncomposted cotton by products so all I can say for sure is if it's composted, it should be fine.

As for the fertility of cotton burr compost, I've had it tested and it was quite good compared to other purchased composts. The only thing that beat it in my tests was my own homemade. It is indeed a good thing to use a variety of inputs (you DO have your own compost bin, right? :-) but not all limited-ingredient compost is bad. In fact any compost is better than no compost.

Thank you everyone for weighing in on this! I read each and every comment and learned a lot from all of you!! Thanks for clarifying about the differences in "cotton bur" and "cotton seed!" I didn't know any of that. The guy who was going to sell me the wholesale cotton bur said it was processed but I just got his name off of Craigslist and really don't know anything about him. He also said it could be used as mulch with woodchips ... makes me wonder if he's really selling cotton seed? I had another choice ... someone was offering wholesale horse manure, leaf mulch and sandy loam (optional). She claimed her horses don't eat junk and won't have weeds but I understand horse manure just doesn't have the nutritive value. The Craiglist guy selling the cotton bur also sells chicken manure, which he swears is not fresh but processed. But, I don't know where to find leaf compost or something to mix in with the manure. I admire those of you with homemade compost! Also, I read that even organic products with nitrogen like blood meal should not be used in the summer. Is heat a factor with nitrogen? The temperature is like 88 degrees now in my area and this flowerbed by the curb gets baked with the sun.

P.S. Also, thanks for steering me in the right direction about lime. I did read it used to be used in clay for some reason (wonder why?) ... but I was with you all and didn't think raising the ph level was something I wanted to do!

Calcium is good for certain kinds of clay so what you read was correct. But you have to know your pH. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) does the same thing without affecting pH.

I'm not sure what this guy means by 'processed' - if he means composted that's great.

Horse poop might be lower in nutrients than cow poop but I would not look down upon horse poop compost. Again there are some differences in the final product but not as much as the differences in inputs - composting moves things toward a common center. And don't forget compost adds organic matter as well as nutrients, which is the #1 thing clay soil needs to become more fluffy. Virtually any compost can perform that function.

He is probably not selling cotton seed meal, it would look completely different from cotton burr compost (more like cornmeal whereas the cotton burr looks more like fluffy brown peat).

A table on this page:

http://www.ecochem.com/t_manure_fert.html

shows that fresh cattle and horse manure have about the same NPK values.

This page:

http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm

quotes a Rodale book for NPK values of manures and shows horse manure having HIGHER NPK than dairy cow. But goes on to say, quite rightly, that actual conditions can vary a lot depending on the type and amount of bedding mixed in.

I would also point out that when I tested a couple dozen bagged compost products, the ones that had 'manure' as an ingredient were not necessarily higher or lower than any of the others. In fact a very expensive 'ground dried manure' product actually sucked as far as nutrient content.

I have never worried too much about what kind of manure I was getting. If someone offered me a truckload of manure when I was actively and heavily building my soil from scratch, I didn't say no.

The Nitrogen in horse manure, like that in poultry manure, is more readily available than in other manures making horse manure a "hot" Nitrogen source. Like poultry manure, horse manure can easily "burn" plants.

kimmq is kimmsr