In article ,
Padz wrote:
I've moved house & want to start on the garden but am not what you'd
call an experienced gardener. Help!! Garden is about 15' wide by about
100' long and near the house there is a lot of biulding waste - bricks
etc, littlle bit of cement here and there. Not being too wealthy I'm
kind of resigned to clearing it myself but would like to know about
top soil. Soil seems quite clay (SE london), if I got rid of the worst
should I get someone to come in & add a load of nice topsoil or what
are the options. Tempting to push the overdraft a bit more & get
someone to do the lot, there's access at the back to get a mini digger
& skip in but no idea of costs. All advice welcome.

If the building waste is just bricks, cement and inert crud, it is
unsightly but not antagonistic to plants. It is merely the fact
that it is impervious (and that cement is very alkaline when fresh).

As suggested, you could make a rockery out of the bricks, but be
warned that significant amounts of cement will discourage lime-hating
plants (like SOME heathers, but not all). However, there are LOTS
of rockery plants that like lime.

And don't worry about digging mortar and small fragments into clay;
it could well improve its fertility by improving drainage. Watch
out for broken glass - even though it is YOU and not the plants who
will mind - plants don't mind growing in broken glass.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.