Does packing down soil harm plants?

I need some help, please.I thought that my lack of space for new plants, gardening experiments, etc. had been solved when my husband built me a raised bed and ordered what we thought was the top grade of soil for that purpose from a garden supply store.When the soil was delivered, my husband packed it down tightly (I wonder if that was a problem) because it was a bit more ample for the space than was needed.I eagerly began planting new plants in the bed, but soon noticed that they seemed to really dry out quickly,and, even though I thought that I had been watering them sufficiently, I have lost several plants.The soil medium itself looks more like finely shredded wood than ‘soil.’I bought some Gardener and Bloom Soil Building Compost,but it looks very much like the first ‘soil.’A library book that I was reading recently said to put 1/2 garden soil, 1/4 compost, and 1/4 aged manure (is this the kind that comes in bags at the store?)

Posted by on July 26, 2016