[Axe]

The housemove went great!..and the bosslady dosn't want the house decorated till after Christmas, so i decided to get stuck into the new back garden its about 25 metres square, the right side is my veggie patch and the right is lawned and a the top im preparing for a greenhouse, and thats when my problem started. while i was digging the soil over on my veggie patch i could smell a fuel scent, so i done some investigating and i found out there used to be a garage built there and the previous owner done alot of repairs to peoples cars which drowned the soil in oil and fuel!!....so i am hoping  is there a cure for this or will i have to remove the soil and replace it with new topsoil or is there a treatment i can use to fix this? any comments would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Gaz

[Plot 6B]

If the soil is contaminated, it's best to remove it and replace it completely if you want to grow anything. I certainly would not want to grow anything in soil like that.

[Axe]

yeah its a huge dissapointment the top layer seems fine..it was when i started to turn it over that the smell was starting so the rain must have pushed it down between 2-6 inches.

[JayG]

I wonder if the garage had a pit, because it seems a bit unlikely that the owner was careless enough to manage to soak the entire area (or maybe he used to sluice the floor down so that it drained off into a relatively small area?)

Might not be as bad as you think (hope so, anyway.) 

[Axe]

i think it has been just what has ran out of cars, and seeped into the soil through the cracks and joints (the floor was just loose flagging not fully concreted) and i looked for a pitt and couldnt find anything concrete in there so im pretty sure there isnt one.

[Swing Swang]

If the ground hasn't been cultivated for some time it will give off 'anaerobic smells' when you turn it over. Give the area a good dig over. Check pH and lime if required. Fork over again in the spring and see how it smells then before doing anything radical.

[azubah]

Do the weeds grow there happily and look well? If weeds don't grow there is definately a  problem.

[Axe]

yeah the weeds certainly like parts of it..altho there is some bald spots...and yeah im gonna turn it and leave it for winter then get back to it then as its totally burst my bubble lol

[stompy]

I would personally remove as much of the original smelly soil as possible.
The idea for most of us growing our own is so we know whats gone into it, with this situation you don't.

Bag it or skip it, and hopefully it won't be over to big an area 

Not sure if there is anything you can do about the previouse owner contaminating the ground?

[bigben]

Could you turf the bit that smells of petrol and dig raised beds on the other side? You might even be able to lift sections of turf from the existing grass on the other side and relocate them. Hopefully the other side will be ok.

[Axe]

i think i am gonna have to remove it all and replace it..but im not looking forward to shifting about 3 tonne of soil lol..but what must be done ,has to be done i suppose.

and the better half wont let me use the other side as she dosnt want to look out the dining room window to a vegetable plot lol..she wants it a kid friendly zone. 

[stompy]

Like an allotment, alot of hard work at the beginning but the rewards are paid every year 

[Goosegirl]

i think i am gonna have to remove it all and replace it..but im not looking forward to shifting about 3 tonne of soil lol..but what must be done ,has to be done i suppose.

and the better half wont let me use the other side as she dosnt want to look out the dining room window to a vegetable plot lol..she wants it a kid friendly zone. 

I don't know if this help to inspire you, but the other year I shifted three tonne of topsoil and one hundred bags of mushrooom compost - and I am over 60. Take it in stages, don't look at what you still have to do, but what you have already achieved. 

[Swing Swang]

If you seriously think that you've got contaminated soil then where are you going to move it to? You might not even be able to move it from one end of your property to another for example, so depending on the contaminant it will have to be disposed of correctly. If you've real grounds for concern then you're going to need to have the soil analysed and what you do will depend on what's in it.

As previously mentioned freshly dug soil can give off some strange smells - when I bought a new piece of land it gave off an foul oily eggy smell (like diesel mixed with rotten eggs and human waste) that really concerned me at first. Within 18 months, thorough double digging, improved drainage (4 inches of sharp sand), plenty of organic matter (about 8 inches) it smelt very sweet indeed.

SS

[Axe]

if it is contaminated..i will have to bag it and take it to a recycling plant ..but im going persevere for now and turn it over, but keep any smelling soil along the top to air out for a while to see if it settles..if not then its going to be removed and replaced.

i have also noticed an allotment behind my back garden hasnt been fully used 15x15 allotment with 2 2x2 raised beds at one side,the rest is overgrown,so while i treat my garden, i might ask if i can part share with the owner and grow my veggies there till i can get ontop of this.