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We recently broke up and removed the concrete in front of our place in the hopes of planting a small tree and an evergreen hedge. But as I dig down I see very little soil; there’s a ton of very old/decaying red brick, some black pumice-like material, white “rocks” that can be crumbled in-hand, and bits of something that vaguely resembles slate. Except for the gravel on top, this stuff looks like it’s been here over 100 years. The soil in back of our place is excellent, but I’ve dug a foot down here in front and it seems like it’s mostly old building materials.

Anyone have any experience converting an area like this (your typical brownstone front stoop) into a small garden? I’ve done by best to remove the top layer of gravel, but we can’t afford to have the entire pit removed and replaced with soil. Any ideas what I could do? If I mix in some quality compost and/or top soil, will that be enough? Roughly how much soil would I need to add?