Any suggestions welcome - help!

Hi all, I am looking for some help from some lovely people.

I am attempting to battle our garden - it's our first house so it's the first gardening I've done. Anyway..... the bottom of the garden is lawn with what looks like an old flower bed right next to the bottom fence. It's sunny in the afternoons and I thought it could be a really pretty spot so I bought some climbing plants and trellis and thought I'd start from the back of the bed. Today I decided to weed it and dig it over but I have discovered the whole bed is full, and I mean full of broken glass, broken bricks and big stones. There's also a couple of tree roots from nearby trees. It's not a big bed but I think it will be a big job to clear it.
So I was thinking of laying some kind of membrane to stop the weeds coming through, putting some sleepers or similar around the edge and filling the whole bed with compost.
Does this sound like a good idea? Depending on the depth of compost I guess I am limited to what I can grow here? I do really love little alpine plants - maybe this would be a good spot for them?
Thanks!!

 

When we first moved into our house (25 years ago) it had been previously owned by a keen veg. gardener and his plots were really good.
However, at the bottom he had an area that was basically a parking place for anything that didn't fit/wasn't needed/didn't want.
Having cleared it I discovered why. Under the soil I found broken bottles, bricks (whole and broken), breeze blocks and most other detritis. It seems the site was originally a waste dump, before development - and badly cleared.
Luckily I wanted to build a Patio and most of it went into the hardcore base.
I would clear your bottom area as best as you can and, assuming the trees that own the roots are far enough away, dig through the roots - it will have enough others so as not to damage it too badly (hopefully it won't fall over!)
You will then be able to make better use of the bed.

 

I agree with gcc, it needs completely removing so you have at least 2 or 3 feet or decent quality growing medium, otherwise i think over time it will start to drive you mad especially after you have invested time and money into your garden only to find your not really getting the same results you would have if you had tackled the waste back on day 1. Also once you have done it once you wont ever have to do it again

 

Thanks so muh for the replies - I guess I'll get clearing then!

 

I loved weed membrane about 10 years ago and it did help when I was giving my garden a makeover but now I'm regretting using it as it makes later planting quite difficult.

If you are going to use it, I'd suggest using it in fairly short lengths and overlapping them because later on if you change your mind about what you want to plant it will be easy to lift one section.

On the plus side, it did stop weeds from establishing on newly turned ground and once I'd lifted sections after a few years the soil underneath was really easy to work.

If you find the ground where all the roots and rubble are is too difficult to work and you don't mind giving up the space, skimmia bushes love that sort of ground and in spring the flowers of some types give off quite a strong scent (similar to hyacinths) which are nice close to a sitting area although of course they will also attract the early bees and other insects.