Decent crop o' rocks from garden.

joseph brand

I dug up a plant that was 'struggling' and discovered slate after slate, and pieces of cobble lock and a massive stone. Plenty of nails, sand and metal straps (that usually go around a bale of blocks).
Photo below:

Someone told me that the soil in our gardens (housing estates) is sh1te, since the builders take away any good top soil??

I vaguely rememeber finding bits of a pallet and builders rubble while rotovating the back garden years ago. :mad:

Perhaps I should have bought a couple of tonnes of decent top soil when I moved in?

The silver lining I suppose, is that in all my years of torment brought on by my cement-like soil, incapable of sustaining grass, I've learnt a little about how to 'fix' the soil.

I might dig up some more soil around the plants to see what crap is beneath. It was tough going, I had to use a lump hammer and a pick axe. #sweatandblisters

lottpaul

Looks like dreadful soil -- if you could even call it that. You're probably right about the builders removing topsoil etc but you seem to be doing a good job and getting some plants to grow. Your best bet I suppose was to dig out an extra large hole for each new plant and add proper soil/compost each time? Looks very very dry too -- is that just this summer weather or is it generally dry?

Conmaicne Mara

Friend of mine worked on the buildings in the boom. Said they'd bury any ould ****e and rubble as otherwise it'd have to be skipped and that cost money. Skin of soil over the junk and off you went to the next job. In my fiancee's estate I think they dug up paint and slabs of chipboard when they were doing up a corner of the estate. My friend would go through the "skip" each evening and scavenge bits and pieces, fittings etc. that would never be buried as they'd not be right for the next job so they just got dumped.

Is it any wonder everything cost so much back then.

joseph brand

lottpaul wrote: »

Looks like dreadful soil -- if you could even call it that. You're probably right about the builders removing topsoil etc but you seem to be doing a good job and getting some plants to grow. Your best bet I suppose was to dig out an extra large hole for each new plant and add proper soil/compost each time? Looks very very dry too -- is that just this summer weather or is it generally dry?

It's fairly dreadful alright and I've been adding compost to it, and yes I had to dig a wide hole around the plants. The soil is full of clay, so it compacts in dry weather and produces a wonderful blanket of moss in the winter. The reason it looks very dry is probably due to the hot weather.

Most of my time in the garden is taken up with the back garden, where I have my 3 raised beds filled with veg, a new greenhouse and roses.

I noticed the soil in this thread, is darker, and looks a lot better. I'm guessing it's due to lots of plant matter broken down, creating nutrient rich humus.

I may have to just buy roll out lawn turf, as the garden could do with being raised slightly (there's a depression in it). Either that or buy a tonne of topsoil locally for around €60.

magicbastarder

i once went to plant a plant which came in a 2l pot, in my gf's then house which was built ca. 2004 or 2005; so i dug a hole about eight inches deep and hit what i thought was stone. decided it was best to dig out out first. an hour or two later, i was literally waist deep in a hole where a substantial section of a wall had been removed from; i think it comprised 16 4" blocks. took a few of us to lift it out.

the hoops i had to jump through with meath co.co. when i rang to make a complaint about illegal dumping of c&d waste. i've never come across a bunch of more unhelpful people in my life.

monkeynuz

Nothing much new about this happening though I can remember in the 80/90s in the uk builders always used to leave crap everywhere, I can remember hearing of people heating their houses just with scrap timber picked up from sites.

Also on the new estates the building manager would often approach new home buyers and say "would you like to buy some topsoil for your garden cos I can get you some" and then he would proceed to sell them their original topsoil back!

Gautama

Builders! It isn't just the economy they ruined!