Each year it is important to add at least two inches of top soil or compost to you raised flower beds. This is called top-dressing, and it is important because the old compost from years past has decomposed. The new soil will replenish the bed with nutrients to feed the plants. It takes three years for a raised flower bed to get settled and for plants to get established.

When raising an organic garden, sometimes a solution to resolving bad soil is to raise your garden bed. Building a garden bed or roost above the regular soil, can allow you to put your own fertilized soil within the bed without the risk of the soil becoming diluted or mixed in with the surrounding area.