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April 17, 2008
Gardening help needed for stoop area
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?
Comments
Yes, dig down about 1 foot (1 full day of backbreaking labor), pay someone to remove the dirt, put new dirt. Otherwise, pave over it! Or use beautiful slate to cover what was once concrete. We dug down a foot. It SUCKED, but we have a beautiful garden now in front.
Posted by: guest at April 17, 2008 10:06 PM
Trees need a minimum of 3 or 4 feet of proper soil depth to survive. Hire a landscape company or you'll break your back.
Posted by: guest at April 17, 2008 11:12 PM
get the free soil from Boerum Hill below!
Posted by: guest at April 18, 2008 3:18 PM
We are planning to do this,too. How much did it cost to remove the concrete layer?
Posted by: guest at April 18, 2008 6:22 PM
We are planning to do this,too. How much did it cost to remove the concrete layer?
Posted by: guest at April 18, 2008 6:23 PM
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