Plants to grow in shallow soil

chrish_01

we have an extra strip of garden to the side of our house which is covered in several inches of concreate. 

We are looking to do something with this area short of trying to dig it all up or paving over it, I would prefer some greenery. 

would anything grow if we simply dumped a couple of inches of soil over the top. I don’t mind letting it get a bit wild, not after an ornate flower bed. 

The pic shows the area in question, east north east facing. 

Thanks
chris. 

Blue Onion

I would just bust up that piece up against the fence, on the far right of the picture, and plant shrubs all along the area.  Something that will spread over the cement along the sidewalk.  Remove that one area of cement and dig over the soil with well rotted manure or bags of compost to improve the soil.  Many types of shrubs would be happy in that area, depending on what you like.   If you don't like the look of the cement, you could cover it over with bark mulch until the shrubs cover the area in a few years time.  

B3

Or gravel and containers

Obelixx

The problem with just laying a couple of inches of soil is that there will be nothing to hold it in heavy rain, nowhere for the roots to hide in the depths of winter and it will bake to dust in ht sun.

Think instead about clearing and planting that weedy corner as Blue Onion suggests and then maybe pressure wash and clean up the concrete with a view to making it a seating/entertaining area with table chairs, parasol, BBQ, pots of herbs etc.  Cover it with a layer of chipped bark or gravel to make it more attractive.

The other possibility would be some raised beds to knee height filled with good soil and planting compost and then you can grow loads of stuff.