Clearing waste from plot

[lynrees]

Hello,


I have an area at the top of my garden, around 40mx10m, which I want to use to grow vegetable and fruit.


When I moved in to the house a few years ago, the area had a large mound of garden waste, which we cleared away to reveal a mound of earth. The area became quite overgrown with mostly nettles and so I cleared and covered with landscape fabric a couple years ago.


Yesterday, I was looking forward to digging into my rich mound of earth, but I've been disappointed. In amongst the good stuff, I've found what looks like ash and/or building waste. Without going too deep I've also found bricks, rocks, an old bath tap, some metal rails for a machine, and a small slab of reenforced concrete!


My neighbour, who lived here for years says that all he's ever seen put there is garden waste, so he believes the junk is many years old.


My question is, do I remove the bricks and rubbish and then mix the ash-like stuff in to the soil, or do I remove the possibly contaminated soil and dispose of it?


Thanks.

[Jay-ell]

Hello and welcome to the vine.

The rubble could have been there since the house was built - builders are not known for clearing up after themselves.

When you say ash can you be more descriptive - photos would be great.

I'd dig out the rocks, bricks, junk and the ash like stuff. I don't think I'd go the whole hog of removing the soil and replacing it though I might make a note of where the ash stuff was and either use that for ornamentals or plant fruit bushes in that place.

You might also be able to reuse some of the stuff - bricks for paths/edging etc.

[Guest]

I am tackling a similar job after trying to ignore it for 4 years. I feel you pain

If weeds are growing in the ash and soil I see no reason why you don't use it where ever you can. Do you remember how healthy the weeds were when they were growing in it?

With the waste either bite the bullet and dispose of the lot and start a new (costly ) or reuse what you can. Rubble for low walls and rockeries, quirky scrap sculptures/ scarecrows etc.

Pics would be good as it would help give an idea of the mix of stuff

Edit: Hi and welcome to the vine

[veggiechicken]

Hello Lyn and welcome
You should be cheered by your patch of nettles - they're very fussy about where they grow! Yes, honestly! They're a sign of good soil, rich in nitrogen and phosphates.
I'd get rid of the absolute rubbish, put aside anything that may be useful/interesting/ make something daft and rake over the rest. Then plant something that you're not too worried about - maybe cover it with courgettes and see how they grow. That will give you some idea of how good the soil is.
Have fun!

[Snadger]

Sounds a bit like my allotment plot!Thats why i call it scrapheap challenge.
The broken glass I put under my paving flags when I lay them, or along the edge of my chicken run to deter Mr fox. The large pieces of scrap I drag out and will eventually dispose of .The lumps of concrete will become my shed base. The lumps of wood, and anything burnanble goes into the woodburner.

I daren't dig the soil as its still full of all manner of crap, but luckily I practice no dig gardening. I just rake the soil level, cover it with a thick mulch of cardboard and horse muck and plant stuff through it. Stuff, mainly tatties grew very well last year so i can't complain.

[lynrees]

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the replies.

Firstly, the area is 20m x 10m, typo in previous post. I went our earlier to dig somoe more and get photos.

The nettles were very happy and healthy, so I guess it can't all be bad. I'm also starting to think the ash, if it is ash, came from a fire I, myself, made, and has been trampled into the ground under the landscape fabric.

Here's a photo of the section I described:


This is a patch lower down the mound and has less of the 'ash' but does have broken glass :-(


And here's a picture of my small mound, which looks a little smaller in the photo than it is:


Thanks again for your help with this.

[Jay-ell]

For some reason I pictured it much worse than it looks in the photos - it's not the end of the world.

It might be worth doing a couple of exploratory holes to see what is under the pile - on the front of my first plot (The Jungle) there was so much glass that I decided to put the fruit bushes there as after taking several trugs worth out I had hardly made a difference.

On the other hand, if it's something that's just been dumped on that pile of green waste then this might just be scrapped off and processed at your leisure.

You could also look up no dig gardening if it is in the soil.

[1Bee]

We took on a plot that, although scraped 'clean', is full of scrap metal and glass. It used to house sheds where a guy processed scrap wood for burning.

Since its also rife with perennial weeds, we do dig, and I just keep pulling the stuff out. This is our 3rd year and there is a real reduction in what we're pulling out, and the soil that's left grows stunned really good stuff.

I'd keep digging and sorting, and add lots of good stuff. Welcome and good luck!

[lynrees]

For some reason I pictured it much worse than it looks in the photos - it's not the end of the world.

It might be worth doing a couple of exploratory holes to see what is under the pile - on the front of my first plot (The Jungle) there was so much glass that I decided to put the fruit bushes there as after taking several trugs worth out I had hardly made a difference.

On the other hand, if it's something that's just been dumped on that pile of green waste then this might just be scrapped off and processed at your leisure.

You could also look up no dig gardening if it is in the soil.

It felt worse when the first fork full was full of ash and a bath tap, followed by a load of other junk! Having dug a little more, I don't feel so bad.

I'll work through it, see what it turns up. That second hole had a lot of broken glass in it, but the third was clear of junk. I'll keep you posted on progress!

Thanks again.

[Jay-ell]

I wonder if the tap will fit my bath?

I'm sure that you will get through it.

It could be worse

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ana_84270.html

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...lot_89151.html

[Snadger]

Can you beat this

This is what I had to contend with at my allotment.



Even Jay-els plot, which wasn't good, was like Shangri-La compared to mine.