Help please

[adyshaw]

Hi guys n galls,

Recently took over a rental property, and with the landlords permission, been granted the ok to turn an area he had recently grass seeded into a veg plot. He said all he had on the ground previous was a trampoline.

However, lots of digging and turning over has led me to believe there was a structure of some such, the ground is clay type, goes grey after turning over, leading me to believe there is concrete or some such mixed in with it. And the amount of builders rubble I have removed from 2 foot down is just not funny. And having dug it today without wearing gloves, my hands are like sand paper, wonder if the soil has something in it that my skin dont like.

There is one small patch at the field end of the garden that has some very good loam.

Is there anything I can do to sort this ground out? Have a friend in the garden trade that can get me any type of manure I need, cow, goat, horse and even mushroom compost

[rustylady]

Whereabouts are you Ady? Some places have red clay, and some grey clay, so the colour might not be anything to worry about.

What your soil needs is lots and lots of organic matter. Doesn't really matter what sort of manure you use, but it's best rotted down before you use it.

Also, you need to be aware of Aminopyralid contamination with animal manure.

[veggiechicken]

Or build raised beds then you don't have to worry about the underlying structures ------and Welcome to the Grapevine

[adyshaw]

North Yorkshire, just outside Ripon, and most of the garden including the lawn seems to have good soft loam

[kathycam]

I'd probably make semi raised beds. Cut the grass off the top of ground into kinda tufts, with the roots still attached and in soil. Stack these upside down in a big pile, they'll rot down in time. In the meantime you could cover and maybe grow a squash through a hole in the cover.

Loosen up the area you removed the grass from. Cover with cardboard. Then a layer of manure and mushroom compost and any other suitable bits you have. When planting you can put a hole in the cardboard, so the plant can get its roots down. The cardboard will hopefully stop weeds, and will rot down within a season or so. You don't need to have wooden boarders on the raised beds, as they just encourage slugs and weeds to gather there. I'm in no way an expert though!

[Two_Sheds]

Soil is made from crushed rock, amongst other things. It is really rough on your hands, that's why gardening gloves were invented

Sandy silty soil is the worst, it's really gritty. I always get splits in my thumb skin at the start of the season, before the skin toughens up

[kathycam]

What sort of builders rubble did you get out and is there many worms?

[adyshaw]

bricks, tile, concrete slabs, broken toilets, you name it, it was in there, some of the slabs are so big I now have a mini stone henge at the bottom of the garden, lol. And yes, plenty worms in there

[iam]

why don`t you try making a raised bed and filling it with mushroom compost and course builders sand (concrete sand)

[spanish_gardener]

I'd use raised beds, hay bales or containers.

[Carbon Gold]

You could try the no-dig method which is brilliantly explained by Charles Dowding in his book "Organic Gardening: The Natural No-dig Way" a new full colour edition was reprinted only in Feb this year. Basically he advocates building organic matter on top of soil and letting the worms do all the work rather than digging and destroying the vital structure. Key ingredients are cardboard and lots of manure. Read more here www.charlesdowding.co.uk | No dig gardening

Not only great for the soil but less digging and weeding too!

[Martin H]

Okay, there's some good practical advice in Dowding's book. But then there's also a load of astrological FYM as well, which tends to make one think that maybe he's a bit loopy...

[Two_Sheds]

There are many facets to a person. Trust CD on no-dig, he is a guru. It works.

As for astrology: lots of people like it. Heck, it's as trustworthy as religion, in my book.