New flower bed

[tdm86]

I extended my raised flower bed & used compost with a mix o top soil.

The garden is forever drying out not holding any water. Any advice?

[chris]

home made compost/horse muck, thick wads of wet newspaper etc

[rustylady]

You say you extended the bed - is it just the new bit that you're having problems with?

What sort of compost did you use, and how high is the bed? Is it sited above earth or concrete?

[Two_Sheds]

The garden is forever drying out not holding any water.

The garden is, or the raised bed?

Don't expect the soil surface to be moist, in fact it's better to be kept dry (dry surface soil is a good mulch, trapping moisture underneath).
I never water the soil surface, instead I water into sunken flower pots ~ that way the water goes straight to the roots where it's needed. Even after 2 months without rain, 9" down the soil was surprisingly damp, and established plants were thriving (and the weeds)