crusty soil

I have three new flower beds and really heavy clay soil. In spring I dug in bark compost before planting bedding plants and a few perennials. The soil constantly forms a crust so when it rains, all I have is puddles! I dig it over carefully with a small fork, but within days, the crust has formed again.... along with the puddles. I have a compost heap this year so I'm hoping to dig that in come Autumn. Am I worrying unnecessarily about my crust and puddles, or is there something I can do now?

 

You are doing it already. Possibly would be worth putting a mulch of the bark type stuff on the surface. That would keep the moisture in and stop the surface from drying out. Put it on when the soil is wet.

 

Thanks... I'll try that. Actually, that makes a lot of sense because the top layer is drying out very quickly.