Specialty Gardening: What should I put in 18" raised beds for soil mix?, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
I used a mixture of pine bark, reed/sedge peat, composted manure, sand, and Turface. I mixed it well & planted in it immediately. I had some N immobilization the first year that I corrected with an occasional application of MG 30-10-10. I haven't had to use fertilizer in subsequent years. To make up for shrinkage, I simply add pine bark mulch yearly. It breaks down slowly & replaces lost bulk. The soil is home to plenty of life, and I'm very happy with it's productivity. I have 6 4x8 bonsai nursery beds filled with the soil & all the plants I've planted out are doing very well.

Here is a Styrax japonica, planted as a whip thinner than a pencil and lifted as a bonsai start, after 3 growth cycles:

Al