Thank you very much! Yes, there could be residue of motor oil or gas in the dirt because cars used to park everywhere. Our house was built in 1900, so we're not the original owners either.
It's horrible dirt, hard as a rock, about the color of a manila file folder when dry, but after having organic matter applied to the surface for a few years, it's good enough to grow ornamental plants.
Thank you for the link. I've read tons of those articles, and am not disagreeing with any of that stuff, but they don't make expensive potting soil magically appear. Covering ground soil with organic matter may not be actual magic, you have to wait a while, whether you want to just grow plants in that spot or harvest some soil for pots, but it does produce magical results.
An alternative that I've done many times is when pulling weeds, throwing the pulled weeds & shrub trimmings into the giant pot that I want to fill. Fill it so it's heaping like an ice cream cone by fall and forget about it until spring, add some fallen leaves if you have some. Then in spring, add plants. I've done this many times and the result is always really great, a micro compost pile that you don't have to move to use, and poetic justice for your efforts at pulling weeds.
I'm not saying that anyone shouldn't use something store-bought. But if you don't want to, or have more effort than $ available, that doesn't mean you can't still have containers. There are other options. Just make dang sure you put the big ones where you want them unless you happen to own a crane. I've always enjoyed digging in the dirt, since I was a kid, so it seems like the most normal thing in the world to me. Not a week goes by when I don't do anything at all with a shovel or hand trowel, unless I'm not at home.
