Digging out garden
pokhim
Posts: 210
Hi,
In the beginning process of a garden renovation. There are lots of weeds, old gravel, concrete slabs in the garden at the moment.
How deep should i dig down from the top soil? 10cm, 15cm...?
Do i need to seive the soil free of stones?
Should i add new top soil and organic matter to the whole garden?..
0
Posts
As always, it all depends on what you want to do with it. Making a terrace/patio doesn't require deep digging except to lay a decent foundation of hard core on which you will put your chosen finishing and a layer of concrete or cement to fix it in place. Making a decent vegetable garden or ornamental bed or shrubbery or woodland feature may, depending on how good the soil is when you've removed all the rubbish and rubble. Lawns also need a decent depth of soil beneath them if they are not to suffer from drought in dry spells.
How big is it? Which way does it face? What is the soil like - clay, sand, loam, stony, alkaline, acid? How hot and cold and dry and wet does it get in a normal year? What are you hoping to have in your garden once it's cleared?
Last edited: 04 June 2016 20:51:50
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Hi, I've created new beds in an old neglected garden the past few years, so if you're digging new flower or veg beds my advice is:
Get rid of the big stones and don't worry about the small ones.
If you're digging by hand / manually do a spade's depth, when I use my mini digger I do twice or 3 x as deep but that's only practical with a machine
Sprinkle compost and slow release granules over the top and let the worms take it down.
If practical, wait a month before planting up as you'll be amazed how many weeds you've helped rejuvenate by your digging, even if you thought you'd cleared them all. A short wait will see them pop up so you can dig them out again.
Then the fun starts - the shopping and the planting
Enjoy!