How do get a raised border ready for planting?

[PlumSykes]

Have dug out (in this heat!) all the old shrubs that were there when we bought this house, pulled out anything else green/brown, but now an obviously left with a bit of soil, and LOADS of old roots/bulbs/general rubbish.

Do I just have to shovel it out by the barrowful and buy some new soil, or can it be saved? Am not afraid of hard work, just not sure how to begin!

Bumping for you as I have the same question myself, only we are battling a VERY overgrown area on the other side of the fence which is sending forth brambles and bindweed, damaging the fence and our efforts.

I'd like to know the answer to this too, as we're about to tackle ours!

Sadly, ours is mostly clay so we're intending to do a combination of digging out most of it, and filling with compost/topsoil nicked kindly donated by the parental units.

I would sieve out the old bulbs though, or you'll end up with random daffs in spring (I don't bother, I like them