Renovating old veg patch - advice please on soil etc

suisidevw

Quick question guys, have dug out the 'veg patch' area where previous owner had filled iwth hardcore. Dug down maybe 10" and the base is solid concrete. Was planning to use this for my veg patch and just filling up with some soil + compost before sowing some 'easy growing' veg...........

Would this be OK with regards to drainage and do I need any special soil. A woman on the phone recommended sterile soil to hold in the moisture etc....... 1m3 or it came in at £103.22.

Another soil company said their sold at £55 for 2 tonnes (only soil they do) is often supplied to allotments and would be fine for a veg patch......... any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

valk_scot

Solid concrete is not good for drainage tbh. And 10" is not enough depth for a lot of crops, potatoes and root crops included. the only way you could get enough depth is to build up the bed say another 8-10" and even then it won't be ideal. More a sort of large pot than a bed iyswim?

Still, plenty shallow rooting veg...salads, round carrots, herbs, onions etc. My advice would be to put a layer of stones (not hardcore) or grit on the base of the bed to stop it becoming waterlogged then build upwards. Any topsoil will do...doesn't have to be sterile, really, but you'd need to weed. Plus rotted manure, garden compost, rotted seaweed etc etc.

Easiest thing though would be to put the veg patch somewhere else? If I found a nice patch of concrete in the garden I would be putting a greenhouse or shed on it, tbh.

suisidevw

Hi Val, thanks for the quick response. TBH, we have our name down for a future allotment in our village (2 yr waiting list) and this is our first house/garden so happy to start small with salads etc rather than serious root veg.

OK, the layer of stones will be fine to source and will go for the 'cheaper' soil. Does the rotted manure (sourced from a local farm I assume?!) get worked into the soil or laid on top?

It wouldn't be easy to put the veg patch elsewhere. We have a greenhouse and large garage, see below, apologies ..........

WestonDave

I would be tempted at the very least to hire in a breaker or a serious drill from a hire place for a weekend and punch a load of holes into the concrete base because its going to be a real pain taking all the nice new soil out later to do something with it. You don't necessarily need to get it out as you can add raised beds on it in the longer term, but making some drainage holes through it might be a good idea.

booty40uk

Get Alfie to dig it out!!!!

Optimisticpair

I wouldn't recommend just backfilling if you could get a breaker in to punch some drainage in. I assume you would carry on planting something there after you got an allotment. On poor soil the advice would be to add soil mixed with well rotted organic matter. Most folks (generalisation, I know) would dig down two spade depths and break up the solid layer below by forking manure into it. They would grow potoatoes and long root veg though so that's a bit more than you need. Fifteen inches of soil I'd guess.

You'll want topsoil which contains organic matter and is fertile not subsoil which doesn't and isn't. I would avoid clay if possible also but you may have no choice. I would get the cheaper soil as it may be weed free but it will be friendly bacteria and worm free too which isn't so great. I'd add plenty of Well Rotted manure and homemade compost, so rotted that you can hardly tell what it used to be, if you can get it. Not fresh manure as it will 'burn' plant roots.

If you don't go for the breaker and risk it with a good layer of stones for drainage I would add enough soil to get an 18" deep bed which will be above the original soil level - it can be kept trim with planks round a la kerbed (raised bed) style. Personally I'd buy chicken pellet manure from superstore garden centre and mix in compost for the top 8" and leave the mixed in manure below that as I'd want good crops and few weeds.

It'll grow something to get started this year and next autumn you could do the usual tasks.

suisidevw

Thanks for the advice guys.

Had day off today so took a 2tonne delivery of soil for patch and another bed and took a sledge to the concrete, got it up, took depth to about 15" and refilled with compost and soil so took the advice! Thanks!