[rogertb]

Hi chaps I have recently moved house to find a disused area of the garden, some of which is soil some concrete however the area is covered in 4 inches of pebbles anyone any advice please. They would be a pain to clear away ... can I put raised beds on hard bit and soil filled bottomless pots on the soil bit (scrape away pebbles and cut through the weed membrane) ?

[8doubles]

Have a good look around the margins of the pebbles to see if there are any signs of nasties like horsetail that might have been covered.
There is also a chance that strong long lasting weedkillers might have been applied before the weed control fabric was put down.

I used to grow strawbs on gravel through the weed fabric with no problems apart from woodlice and slugs living inside the cut holes.
A few slug pellets soon cured that problem.

[RichardA]

you don't say how big the area is or if it gets sun or has a south facing wall etc. I have some paved areas and have used big pots or builders trugs with appropriate soil or compost for so called patio fruits incl blueberries etc. Thinking off adding fig, peach, apricot and apples etc. Shingle used to used to grow tomatoes in ring culture but that is under glass. What about rhubarb??