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Stones in soil

emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
in Problem solving
Hello! I was wondering if anyone could help… I have a garden border that contains a lot of big stones… even some bits of broken plate(?!). I grew annual flowers on it last year successfully, but I’m not sure if it needs improving? My plan for this year is to create some raised beds on top of it to grow vegetables but does anyone know if I should try to improve the soil / reduce the number of stones in it? It doesn’t look very nice when it’s bare and I guess it’s not very good for direct sowing as it’s so rubble-y! thank you!

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Removing the larger stones from the surface is all I would do. It looks good soil for general planting, certainly most perennials. Can't really comment on veg crops but would assume raised beds would alleviate the issue if you are bringing in fresh topsoil.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
    Thank you very much, I will do that! Much appreciated :-)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited 4 January
    That looks fine to me … I wouldn’t be at all worried about growing veg directly in that … soil needs some stones to aid drainage. Just pick out the bigger ones like the one in the foreground. My veg patch looked pretty much like that when we moved here and created it over the years the addition of manure and homemade compost has improved it, but I’ve never removed any stones other than big ones. 

    Unless you particularly want to spend your  money on creating raised beds, I would grow your veg directly in that soil … use some of the money you save to buy some well-rotted farmyard manure to fork in (that’ll help it look better) … and some nice tools if you need them.  It looks absolutely fine to me. 

    Let us know how you get on 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
    thank you so much, great tips and advice!  :)
  • WaterbutWaterbut Posts: 344
    Great for drainage. Just dig them in after removing large ones as suggested above. I had a similar plot and made the big mistake of removing all the stones with my large riddle. It turned into a swamp.
  • emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
    Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated! 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If you try to grow carrots in it, you'll probably get some good "comedy" ones (when the root meets a stone it tends to fork) but they'll be perfectly edible.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
    I like the idea of comedy carrots! 😆I know this sounds a bit silly but I just didn’t realise you could plant crops (to eat) in normal garden soil…. I thought it had to be special compost! Thanks for the tips!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited 5 January
    My family are vegetable farmers and they supply the big supermarkets  … all their vegetables are grown in fields full of normal soil …  
    https://th3musketeers.co.uk/home.php#our-crops 

    My little veg patch two summer’s ago… 
     

    Hope that reassures you 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • emjl9891emjl9891 Posts: 17
    Oh wow it looks magnificent!!! Thanks for the motivation!!!
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