Work with or Get Rid of ?

Hello Folks,
I am completely new to gardening so bare with me please. The house i live in now was built approx 18 years ago in a surburban estate. The previous owners didn't realy do much with the garden a few shrubs here and there but they didn't look well. I decided that i would take out what was there make a few beds and do my own planting as i have an interest in gardening now.
When i started to dig i found that there was very little depth to it, in most places just a few inches and then the soil became very poor. I have dug up a tremendous amount of rocks so far but the soil that i am left with to me looks very bad nearly like subsoil but im not 100% sure, to me it just doesn't look good.
Right now i don't know where to go from here, im in two minds but i don't know what the right step to do is. Option 1 is dig out whats there into a skip and replace it with new soil, i have sourced good soil so i know the quality is good. Option 2 do i work with what i have and just add loads of organic matter ? My sisters huband has stables and they have as much well rotted manure as i want.
I've pretty much hit a wall as to what to do now.Some places i have read dig it out and others work with it but im just not sure of the soil.
All i want to do is get it right the first time, i don't want to do something that will have to be changed again as i don't want to waste money.
Looking forward to your replies, Patrick.

 

Marley thank you so much for your reply and welcome. It sounds like you did some great work there for your M&L to turn things around. So you think it is possible to work it ? I took some pictures to show you what i have, most of the beds are like this when you go down a couple of inches.
What does the soot do to the soil? I would love to go out and stick a few plants in the ground but i want to get the soil right first.

 

Hi Marley,
Once again thank you very much for your reply. If i can work it that's great news, i don't mind putting planting off for a year if i can do it properly with no worries next year.Not having to hire a skip and dig it all out will save me a lot
of money that i can put towards plants next year and as you said i can always plant containers this year for interest.
So what i will do next is go over it again taking out the larger stones and then dig in well rotted manure, then repeat this in the winter and then once again next spring when i plant. Can you tell me roughly to what depth i should dig it in, would it be the depth of a spade and how much manure would i use per square meter? Do i need to dig in any grit into the soil i have or is it OK?
One last question, when i add the manure is this broken down into the soil and gets used over time and then each spring/winter i top it up?
Sorry for all the queries but i am very thankful for your help, Patrick.

 

It does look like poor soil but at least weed free. It depends what you want to grow really. If just flowers and shurbs, you only need to dig big enough hole and add compots and organic matters. If you want to grow veg, it probably worth doing with raised beds then you can add loads of top soil, horse manure on the beds.

 

Thanks for the replies
Hi chengjing, all i will be putting in these beds will be flowers and shrubs.

Hi wiseoldowl, Your on the take it out side, hmmm now I am really confused.

:cnfs::cnfs::cnfs:

Im in no rush to get it done, i just want to do it right :(

 

wiseoldowl i really appreciate your input, you've confused me in the right way, the more opinions i get the more it will help me decide, so thank you.:thumb:

This is long term so that's why i want to get it right

Shiney and others, i have taken a few more pics of what i am dealing with so it may clarify the situation ... hopefully

Bed 1
This is north facing at the back of my home. Its raised two sleepers high and is full of the soil i took in my previous pictures about 6 inches from the top.Where all the grass is dead to the left was where i set all the rocks i took out.It had a few shrubs in it but most had poor growth, the climbers don't look great either.So what do do here, take it out or work it? It measures 1.5 x 15m

Bed 2

Sits at the front of my house and is south facing so it gets full sun all day. It had a few shrubs here and there but it looked lifeless. The soil is very light i guess its sandy, it was easy enough to dig over. Its about 8 inches or so deep before i hit rubble/hardcore, the road outside was originally closer to the house but the estate layout changed. Don't know if this is a bad thing, i was going to raise it another 6 inches and dig in manure, does this sound OK or what would be recommended? Measures 9 x 2.5m

Bed 3


Also at the front and west facing. As you can see there are still a couple of shrubs left but most have had to be hacked to keep the drive clear, as a novice it seems to me no thought went into the planting :cnfs:
The soil here is like bed 2 for about 4-6 inches down then i hit the same soil as in bed 1 inc rocks. I want to take out whats there and put in some climbers to cover the wall and some flowers along the bottom. This measures .5m x 6m.

So what do you ladies and gentlemen think ? The soil is different in each area :(

 

I personally would get loads of bonfire ash plus plenty of organic manure and compost and dig that into the soil to see what effect you get after a few months.As others have said it is quiet expensive to replace all the soil so would just add the soil improvers and take it from there.We have solid clay plus chalk in our garden so it would be a bonus to have your soil