Ideas for area with shallow soil and concrete which may be part of wall footing.

So I did a bit of digging and there appears to be wall footings which go out further than I expected - 40cm from the part of the wall and around 170cm in length.

Appears a top layer of soil and red sand has been put over it mounded up towards the wall - so it slopes back down towards the main garden - but in some parts the depth is as shallow as 15cm.

The area when we moved in last year had very bad lose uneven paving stones and was filled with docks, discarded broken bits of toys, cat faeces and god knows what else. Removed all this rubbish - and found reasonably nice soil underneath until I dug a bit deeper. Not got round to knowing what to do with this area.

It is also on a very shady / fairly wet area. Any thoughts what I could do with this? Raised beds and smallish ferns maybe? What could I use this part for productively?

Cheers.

 

Raised bed sounds ideal give you more options of what to plant having more depth of soil , lots of choice with shade and damp , polyanthus do well and ferns and the smaller sized Hosta would look great ...

Spruce

 

Well I wasn't sure what polyanthus were - having a had a quick look, they look absolutely stunning - thank you very much. They will really brighten up a sad looking area!

 

A photo of the area would help us see your problem more clearly.

Are you looking more for flowers or fruit/veg, though the latter generally needs better condions and sunshine.

 

Cheers for replying. Here are some photos. The third where it is highlighted in red shows the concrete / footing if you dig down.

It would have to be plants / flowers - it would be too shady for growing anything edible unfortunately.

 

Hi there Texas Pete.

I have a similar area/situation and find Geraniums/Pelargoniums do well. I also planted a Honeysuckle and a climbing Hibbertia. I also have Ajuga and Grasses..

 

Wow that is absolutely beautiful! Cheers for those suggestions - I am actually getting excited by the possibilities for this formerly depressing little patch now!

 

If that was ours we would dig out all that soil and sand and replace it with some good top soil.
Also think the concrete you show down there is a capping for the drains or service pipes , so would avoid damaging it in any way.

While lucky @Victoria can bask in the lovely Portugees climate, not sure if true Pelargoniums would survice your shady spot, though the Hardy Geraniums, aka Cranesbill will.

For us a large fern up again the wall would be our choice to give about 3ft of height and some other smaller plants in front to compliment your existing plants.

 

Thanks for that advice. I am in Devon, so where I am we can get away with stuff which would struggle elsewhere in the country - but I've had a look the geraniums you recommend and I'm suitably impressed - thanks for these suggestions - again it makes a depressed area seem exciting and full of potential now. I assume these things will grow in very shallow soil, or do you suggest when I replace it - that I mound it up a little higher / raised beds?

A 3 foot fern sounds like an excellent suggestion (I have a couple of similar sized ones elsewhere which look really nice - so it would fit in well) - but would something that grows to this size be alright in only 20 - 25cm depth of soil?

Some of the weeds in the area originally had grown fairly high - so I am guessing that bodes well for other plants. Can't recall what most of the taller ones were now - they got the chop and disposed of pretty quickly - although there did look to be a start of some sort of Buddleja forming.

 

True, as here because of the warmth lasting so long, they actually do best in shade/filtered sunlight. I learnt this from Garden Centers taking note of where they displayed plants.

The idea of tall ferns is great as there are many different kinds. It is something I would like but the climate is not right here on the lowlands ... up in the hills behind me, yes.

Texas Pete, how about looking at Corydalis which I think would suit and add colour. I tried several times but it is entirely too dry here.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/corydalis/growing-corydalis-plants.htm

 

They look great. Thanks a lot. The mrs is impressed as well - so that's always a good sign!

No problem with wet here - been removing moss this morning!

 

My in-laws had moved into a council bungalow .They had a similar problem ,.Everything plus an old kitchen sink was buried a couple of foot down.They replaced the soil .T he plant always died .
the only shrub was a wild rose and this thrived.
make sure you get ALL the soil replaced.

The raised flower bed might be a good idea.!