New house with massively neglected garden. How to deal with hard soil

[delilabell]

As the title says we've moved into a house with a massively neglected garden. It looks like woodland. We've managed to clear quite a bit but the spile is rock hard and looks poor quality.(which could possibly be because of the trees)
I wanted to plant things in the soil rather than building raised beds etc and also to dig up the weeds.
What do i need to do?

Can you afford to hire a rotavatorm or mini digger? It will save back break and heart ache.

Rather than try to do it now in mid-summer when the ground is at its dryest and hardest, perhaps it might be easier to wait until the autumn, when the soil will have softened up a bit.

Keep on top of as much in the way of chopping down weeds etc for now, but hang on a few months before the digging starts!

Thanks both. I think I'm getting garden envy which makes me want it sorted right now 😁 both good ideas.
This is a really stupid question but how do I actually get rid of weeds? Do I need to dig them up? Or cut them? Or do I need weed killer? X

My preference would be to get a strimmer and cut everything down to the ground. Then go over is with a heavy duty rotavator to get as many roots exposed as you can. As the roots are exposed pull them up. Do it a few times. This will get rid of the surface weeds but it will cut up and spread lots of deeper roots which will then Cry “yippee” as the put their little feelers into new soil. As these emerge treat with weed killer over the summer months. It is worth putting the time effort and money into this early preparation. It is always best to put in new plants in late Autumn.

Create an ark instead (ungardening to prompt wildlife and diversity) and definitely don't use weed killer.

marymary.ie/we-are-the-ark

I pull weeds, and if I get very overexcited try to winkle out the roots. by hand. I'd rather not poison stuff. It's not foolproof but it does work.
I'd clear patches and dump a bag of compost on top to plant into, if you absolutely can't wait, or go crazy with pots for the time being. It's always worth giving a new garden a year before doing anything drastic, to see what comes up.

Strim to clear - work out where you want beds and where you want lawn. In bed areas dig out any rooted weeds (bramble etc...) then water, lay 2 layers cardboard (water between layers), put mulch & compost over the top and plant through the cardboard. Keep mowing the bits you want as lawn, overseed and it will turn into lawn (takes a while).

Please don't use herbicides or pesticides - there will be quite a lot of wildlife due to it being overgrown and you have a better chance of keeping it if you don't go gung ho.

We have removed some huge juniper trees so the exposed soil is in awful condition. I water and hoe ithe patch regularly and I have planted sacrificial bean plants (runner and dwarf) to put some nitrogen back into the soil. You might still have time to sow some bean plants in pots and then transplant them in a few weeks time.

However, the soil is so bad that I think I will clear the worst patch in the autumn and then later it with soil/bulbs/soil/bulbs etc and then raise the bed by about 12-18 inches. Don’t know if this will work but I’ll try it anyway.

Longer term, make your own compost and apply it as a mulch 6 inches deep each spring. Five years will transform soil.

Definitely don't dig now - it's the hardest time of year! At least wait until we've had a soaking of rain!

I had to start my garden from scratch. It was full of weeds including a lot of very deep-rooted dandelions.

Once I started hand-weeding and digging out weeds with a hand-fork I realised I may as well do a thorough job and clear everything. It was hard work but I did it in sections.
Then, as another pp has suggested, I put down a layer of compost, then a layer of cardboard, then another layer of compost, all watered in. That was in the September.
The following Spring I started planting a few shrubs. Four summers on it's a mass of flowing shrubs and perennial plants giving a cottage garden effect. I'm very proud of it!
Not so proud of my less than perfect lawn.

We took on a huge allotment a few years ago. 8ft high brambles and nettles. We hired a bush cutter which is basically a double hard strimmer and chopped everything down first.

Then covered with weed membrane areas we wouldn't get chance to clear properly straight away and just dug out weeds by hand on the areas we started working first, planted it up then moved onto the next bit. We still have some areas covered. But when we do uncover a bit we find nice rich soil that is damped and easier to work than if we had left it uncovered.

If the soil quality is really poor, I would be tempted to see if I could get hold of some well rotted manure, cover with a layer of cardboard then dump about 6 inch of manire on top now, to rot down until next spring. Especially on areas you aren't able to work yet.

It depends what your long term plans are as to what you can do now. Autumn is a good time to plant stuff as lots of things are dormant. So sketch a rough plan out, then start working the areas you need to plant into first.

Depending on your budget you could always get a load of topsoil dropped on it.

Where are you? Some parts of the UK have dry clay soil and so there isn’t much you can do to soften it other than replace the entire top layer of soil regularly. Suggest you speak to a local gardener and see what they say.

Thanks all! I'm in the Midlands.
From old photos it used to be a beautifuk garden but it's grown completly by itself for about 10 years. We've managed to clear a couple of bits to get the children's trampoline in but I think I've underestimated the amount of work it takes to get it all sorted!
I think you're right pot's for now and then work hard at it in the autumn. The idea of the weed membrane is great.
I think the trees might have taken a lot of the nutrients (am I right with that?)

Cut down the weeds with a brush cutter. Cover with weed fabric or old carpet etc. Dig out the roots a bit at a time, it’ll be easier when the ground is damp and soft. Then mulch heavily with whatever you can get cheaply, manure or compost etc.

If you're sure you really want to get rid of everything, and that you're not hazardously tinder-dry, then flame thrower.

I avoid weedkillers as much as possible

And when moving in to a new garden, it can be worth seeing a full year round (or asking neighbours) so you can see what plants you have.

So I'd cut/burn/dig out obvious weeds, and then wait and plan

If you pull weeds up by hand, I would heartily recommend this tool, it makes life soooooo much easier.

Then yes, hire a rotavator if you're relatively strong and have the access to get it in. If not, dig, dig, dig. Just turning it over with a spade and fork will help it get less compacted.