[Jd1980]

Hi
I dug most of my allotment in November .
Went back down this week and the surface is covered in stones that have risen

Any advice ?
Pick up as many as possible or leave them and work around

[snowdrops]

Just use a rake to pull them off, it happens every year

[jambop]

I am really lucky my garden has very few stones, it is a very old house and the land has been cleaned over the years. However what I was going to add was that the house was built from the stones and mud from the surrounding land. It is the method they used long time ago. There were no local bricks but the land has lots of stones which are nearly all oval and vary greatly in size. Some local farmers have great mounds of them which they haul out each year, it must knock the dodo out of their plows and harrowing equipment.

[Yorkie]

As snowdrops says, rake them to one side.  They get brought to the surface by natural processes.

[Kleftiwallah]

I believe it is misguided to remove ALL stones, they retain moisture (somehow).  I've forgotten just where I read that but it seems credible.

Cheers,  Tony.

[Goosegirl]

Jambop. Your old house construction sounds very interesting! In the past people used to make houses out of a mixture of clay, straw and manure which was mixed then firmly pushed between a woven lattice made out of wooden strips.

Just to say that stones help to retain moisture because the soil beneath is protected from the sun so any condensation is retained underneath.

[mikem]

After raking them up use them to  hold down strawberry runners.

[jambop]

Jambop. Your old house construction sounds very interesting! In the past people used to make houses out of a mixture of clay, straw and manure which was mixed then firmly pushed between a woven lattice made out of wooden strips.

Just to say that stones help to retain moisture because the soil beneath is protected from the sun so any condensation is retained underneath.

The area I live in is in the foothills of the Pyrenees and of course the soil as alluvial / glacial . There is no natural material for brick making but loads of the stones which have been ground down for many thousands of years. I don't know if you have ever been down this way but sometimes you will see a field and think, now that is the very definition of stoney ground . But getting back to the house building yes stones and the very clay soil make very strong walls. The walls are usually about 50- 60cm deep which uses loads of stones from the land around the houses. The photo is from a workshop I made from an old earth floored storeroom give you an idea how they look... can be quite decorative if pointed with a nice lime mortar.

[Longshanks]

Me too. Last year, I dug a spade's depth in one bed and removed all stones to grow carrots. Afterwards, I covered it for the winter and then yesterday the surface was covered in them when I took the membrane off. I thought somebody was having me on. 

[jambop]

Me too. Last year, I dug a spade's depth in one bed and removed all stones to grow carrots. Afterwards, I covered it for the winter and then yesterday the surface was covered in them when I took the membrane off. I thought somebody was having me on.

I think a lot of the stones that come to the surface are moved by worms?

[Goosegirl]

Wow! Love that workshop!   

[Yorkie]

Me too. Last year, I dug a spade's depth in one bed and removed all stones to grow carrots. Afterwards, I covered it for the winter and then yesterday the surface was covered in them when I took the membrane off. I thought somebody was having me on.

I think a lot of the stones that come to the surface are moved by worms?

Frost heave is the most common reason overwinter.  When the ground freezes, the water below the stone freezes and thus expands, pushing the stone upwards.  When the ground thaws, the ice melts and smaller soil particles backfill, leaving the stone at its new higher level.

I knew Geography would come in useful one day 

[jambop]

Wow! Love that workshop!   

OK I know it is not to do with the garden .... but I will blow my own trumpet and show you a before and after photo of the workshop. It was hard work I had to dig out the compacted clay earth floor to level the joists. It cost me about €600 for materials the work I did myself. It made me a nice wee workshop on two levels with an area of about 50 sqm took me about a month to do the work.

[Yorkie]

Very impressive!

[jambop]

Very impressive!

Not always as tidy as that Yorkie...