What to do with garden full of rubble/hardcore?

Davesnave

It is a long term job, just like lots of garden or DIY tasks. I'd do it in stages, a bit each year, rather than tackling the whole thing in one go.

The amount of material you describe would take some shifting. While I got rid of that much for nothing last year, I have farmers, builders and others with a need for this kind of material passing the house, and mine was uncontaminated, all in a neat (long!) pile, ready to go, with good access.

So, you could try advertising it for a month or two, but as someone is going to need a digger + big trailer, truck etc, the chances of success are slim. On the other hand, trying that costs little and needs only administrative effort.

The alternative is to go on top of the stuff with soil, in which case adding another 50cm is probably out of the question, both cost-wise and in terms of containment at the edges. You therefore need to look at what's achievable with only a thin layer of new soil.

As andrew says, grass would struggle in hot weather, so it might be better to go for ground cover plants instead. Without wishing to be rude, wild-flower gardening is a bit of an art, and a garden composed of only self seeded wild flowers will look crap 2/3 of the year, so if it were me I'd not go exclusively down that route. I would use plants that self-seed e.g. Welsh poppy, but i'd not rely on them as the backbone.

I'd want lots of evergreen, mat-forming plants that would thrive on this sort of site: e.g. periwinkle, euphorbias, hardy osteospermum, sedums, perennial wallflower, oregano, thymes, and maybe some prostrate juniper, as that will soon get its roots down through anything. There's room for different grasses too. OK some of those aren't technically evergreen, but they'll all come back year on year.

Are all these plants going to cost a fortune?......No they're not! As I said, you'd need to tackle this long term, a bit at a time, and that would give you the ability to multiply up the easy plants you're growing, by learning to take cuttings (Irishman's are best!:rotfl:) and your own seed; doing what I've done for years, by making a zillion plants from just a few. You could also buy the top soil in easy stages, although bulk is cheapest if you can.

The sort of landscape you have is what some people get naturally. I can't do better than point you in the direction of Beth Chatto. Don't worry about copying her plans/plants exactly, but it'll give you an idea of the plants to try. You might live in a wetter area, but the principle's the same.

Buy the plants wherever they're cheapest (not from her!!!) ....and good luck!

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2012/mar/16/recreate-beth-chatto-gravel-garden-in-pictures

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=397

ripplyuk

Thank you Davesnave, that's given me lots of ideas and the links have been very helpful.

I'm feeling quite inspired now! I had thought it would always look terrible and grass was the best I could hope for but now I think, eventually, I could get this looking really nice

Removing all of the hardcore is probably unrealistic due to access issues, so I'm going to add some topsoil and get some groundcover plants. At the minute, this hardcore/rubble is half covered in a mix of weeds and moss with a small amount of grass in parts. The other side of the garden seems damp as there are bits of moss in the grass but it has been a particularly wet winter here. I'm a bit unsure what plants would be best as it seems to be drying up quickly and in full sun now, but must be prone to damp.

I really like the periwinkle but I've read that it's invasive. Could anyone tell me if it will take over everything? I don't want it to ruin the grass part of the garden.

Also, would it be best to buy seeds and scatter them, or buy small plants?

Davesnave

Periwinkle is a good doer, but there are different types, some smaller than others. I wouldn't say it was hugely invasive like, say, soapwort. It isn't going to go mad and out of control overnight, but it will eventually cover the ground and keep spreading, unless controlled.

The point of ground cover plants is to make it harder for weeds to grow. Bare areas do not stay bare, so it makes sense to cover them with pleasing plants, even if those you use eventually need management.

You are not just restricted to ground cover, though. Taller shrubs and even trees can be introduced into quite difficult environments provided they go in young, giving them time for the roots to seek a way through all the stones etc.

I have a barn yard area here which is where lorries and tractors were parked. The surface is stones, shale and a small amount of soil. I'm planting into this now, using tough evergreens like laurel, berberis and viburnum, because I want to blot out the view of an old rickety boundary fence which doesn't belong to me. At first, I thought, "I'll have to improve the ground," but then I saw oak and other tree species growing wild there and realised that while fancy prep would be best, it isn't strictly necessary (or likely to happen!)

moneyistooshorttomention

I've recently come across the idea of using Mercury Bay weed (Dichondra repens) as hardy alternative to turf grass and its a no-mow plant. So that's one that I am currently contemplating as "green" groundcover to replace the "concrete garden" that much of the garden of my current house was when I bought it. The author who wrote about it in her book is in New Zealand - but comes from Britain and is mentioning this as a plant that is obtainable in much of the world.

Would that be an idea?

I shall follow with interest what you are doing on this - as I'm still dealing with urgent expenditure at the moment - but will then be saving up to turn the garden back into garden.

Davesnave

Dichondra repens might be an alternative lawn plant in more Mediterranean climates, but its effectiveness in the UK doesn't seem to have been explored to any notable extent.

The RHS, for example, only mention it in relation to Mediterranean environments and all the evidence suggests it originated in the US and then travelled with people to NZ and Aus.

Can you point us to any UK references, money?

moneyistooshorttomention

It's something I read in this womans book "Creative Sustainable Gardening" by Diana Anthony....but this is a very recently acquired book and my reading of it is that its designed for an international "audience"

- but maybe its not as "international" in appeal as I thought it was.

I'll have a quick check on a website that I came across recently - where I know its listed - to check it is a British one.

EDIT; just checked that website - and its a New Zealand one. Darn...

Davesnave

It might work for you, given that you're in a location where frost is minimal, but if it's easy to grow here, my hunch is thats omeone in Cornwall would be showing it off by now.

moneyistooshorttomention

You mean I have some compensation for all the wind and rain then:rotfl:?

KxMx

I'd contact the Council, you have nothing to lose.

Yes the last tenants left the mess, but it's Council property and as your landlord they do have some responsibility.

Here the Council rents out houses as a blank slate; so when a neighbour left, the lovely deck they had installed in the back garden was ripped out by the Council as Landlord and everything made decent, before the next tenants moved in.