The topsoil in our garden isn't very good (that which remains after we lost a lot of it in the landslip in 2017). It is heavy clay on top of loess, which is a glacial wind-blown silt that forms dense pans that plants find hard to get their roots into. So it's needs a lot of improving. As well as compost and bokashi, I am using thick layers of wood chip mulch, which will break down eventually to feed the soil (I was inspired by the woodchip-covered garden, if not the proselytising, in this YouTube video). In the meantime it works to regulate the moisture content of the soil and to keep weeds at bay.
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As I write this, I have packed about 65 bags and moved about two dozen horse buckets of mulch up to the back section. And I haven't finished.
