Can I refer you back to post #12.
As I said soil is a complex eco-system, your rotovating, digging and clearing has disrupted it. Not only the soil organisms but also the structure which is also very important and another reason results can be disappointing at first. Most of what plants need to thrive is in the soil already but your efforts will have made them difficult for the plants to get at.
Remember what I said about the most important nutrients for plants are sun-light and water? Plants only take food from the soil in the form of dissolved chemicals, add sunlight that provides the energy for them to convert the chemicals into more plant growth. By breaking up the soil the movement of water has become quicker but less even. When it rains you might be seeing puddles where the water doesn't drain in some places and dry areas where it's draining too quickly.
Don't make the big mistake of over cultivating, every time you dig or rotovate you are again breaking up the structure. It can only sort itself out naturally as it settles.
An ideal soil is one third solid, one third water and one third air. At the moment you most likely have too much air (because digging has made lots of bigger spaces between the solid particles) and too little water. Allow it to settle as naturally as possible. Tread on it as little as possible, let the worms, rain and gravity do what comes naturally.
Do you like hoeing? Having cleared the perrenial weeds you hopefully only have to tackle new weed seedlings. It's far less back-breaking (and quicker) to chop them up with a hoe than weeding. You will also be feeding the the soil organisms by doing this, adding small amounts of organic matter and air to the top couple of inches while not disturbing the deeper soil.
It's the begining of the all important process of getting your soil into good condition to give good results.
Do you know what type of soil you've got? Is it heavy and inclined to stay wet after rain or gritty and inclined to dry out quickly if it doesn't rain?
Do you know what kind of rock you have under the soil?
From your pictures the rock looks like Limestone (but are they local or have they been dumped). The weeds I can see are Dogs Mercury, what looks like some Willow Herb (plus grass which is the default in the UK). To me they indicate an alkaline, reasonably light soil, as does your healthy looking Apple tree. If you don't know these things ask more experienced neighbours. What you need to add will determined by what you have to start with and what needs to be improved.
