Help Me Tear Up My Backyard!

[SheikYerbuti]

Remember that guy in the Vault Energy Drink commercial who destroyed his backyard (and the neighbors) so he could build his son a practice field (classic commercial)? Yeah, so I'm basically doing that to my backyard, except I'm putting in a garden. Problem is, I ripped up about 3 square feet of it with a hoe, and it's got a lot of rocks in it. I'm getting a truckload of screened top soil delivered next week, but I was hoping to combine the new stuff with what I already have, but cultivated.

 

So, all you lawn masters. . .any ideas on how to separate rocks out of about 1000 square feet of yard while cultivating?

 

thanks so much,

sheik

[H8tank]

mexicans.

[whomper]

How big are the rocks ? is it a vegetable garden ? I used a steel rake but the area is not as big as yours. Rocks arent necessarily a bad thing for a vegetable garden. Not a ton of them though but a scattered amount wont hurt you..

[aqualung]

Find an old window frame, buy some 3/8 inch chicken wire and staple it to the window frame. Screen the rocks out of the dirt.

 

Depending on the size of rocks you want screened out is the size of chicken wire to attach to the frame.

[SheikYerbuti]

How big are the rocks ? is it a vegetable garden ? I used a steel rake but the area is not as big as yours. Rocks arent necessarily a bad thing for a vegetable garden. Not a ton of them though but a scattered amount wont hurt you..

 

 

I'd say they're about 1 inch in diameter on average. Yes, it's going to be a vegetable garden (mostly tomatoes, peppers, peas, corn, sunflowers). I started out with a steel rake, but the size of the area (along with the pain in my back and hands after about half an hour) said I'm going to have to rent a cultivator. If it weren't a lot of rocks, I wouldn't bother trying to separate them, but it's really out of control. Our home builder really didn't give us much to work with back there.

 

As for Mexicans, I don't have a pickup truck big enough to carry them to my place. Shame really. . .I cook a mean rice-and-beans I could have used in liu of payment.

[PantherDave]

Get a tiller and til about 6-8" deep, then get a hard rake and rake up the rocks. This may not get all of them, but will certainly help. However, as Whomp said, it's not a bad thing and should help the soil drain-bed drains(downward) the roots will chase it as well....deeper rooting helps through dry periods as well.

[Gonkis]

Rent a skid steer with a rock hound attachment.

[SheikYerbuti]

Rent a skid steer with a rock hound attachment.

 

 

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/constructio....jpg&position=5

 

Holy crap. . . Isn't that a little overkill for 1000 square feet? Why am I hearing the phrase "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" in my head?

[TimC]

Do you have any dumb children in the neighborhood? Tell them it's an Easter Egg hunt.

[The Irish Doggy]

Just get a heckuva tiller over a weekend and work in the new stuff. The topsoil you have delivered will probably have small rocks in it as well.

[yo mama]

Get a tiller and til about 6-8" deep, then get a hard rake and rake up the rocks. This may not get all of them, but will certainly help. However, as Whomp said, it's not a bad thing and should help the soil drain-bed drains(downward) the roots will chase it as well....deeper rooting helps through dry periods as well.

 

+1. Just try to avoid hitting sprinkler lines and the such. Natural gas and plumbing lines "should" be deep enough that this sized tiller won't get them, but you never know what some dumbass prior owner might have done on his own. Best of luck.

[Brewer]

I'd say they're about 1 inch in diameter on average. Yes, it's going to be a vegetable garden (mostly tomatoes, peppers, peas, corn, sunflowers). I started out with a steel rake, but the size of the area (along with the pain in my back and hands after about half an hour) said I'm going to have to rent a cultivator. If it weren't a lot of rocks, I wouldn't bother trying to separate them, but it's really out of control. Our home builder really didn't give us much to work with back there.

 

As for Mexicans, I don't have a pickup truck big enough to carry them to my place. Shame really. . .I cook a mean rice-and-beans I could have used in liu of payment.

 

 

You were in pain after half an hour? Listen, I grew up on a farm, and have cleared about an acre of my land for yard, etc recently. Unless you are going to rent equipment to loosen up the top 12" of soil and york rake them out, you are just going to have to rake the damn things into piles and pick them up. Ain't really very many shortcuts. Your other option is to buy more topsoil and spread it out over your existing rocky soil.

 

Good luck. Get a good pair of gloves and some mineral ice.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Do you have any dumb children in the neighborhood? Tell them it's an Easter Egg hunt.

 

 

[SheikYerbuti]

You were in pain after half an hour? Listen, I grew up on a farm, and have cleared about an acre of my land for yard, etc recently. Unless you are going to rent equipment to loosen up the top 12" of soil and york rake them out, you are just going to have to rake the damn things into piles and pick them up. Ain't really very many shortcuts. Your other option is to buy more topsoil and spread it out over your existing rocky soil.

 

Good luck. Get a good pair of gloves and some mineral ice.

 

 

I grew up in Brooklyn, so I don't have much history with rakes and such. I can ride a bike over 50 miles without a break, but the upper body thing isn't my strong suit. Plus I have a bad back as a result of an accident suffered 10 years ago.

 

I'm planning on both tilling what I have with rented equipment, and also getting 5 cubic yards of topsoil delivered. I was told by the soil guys that they offer both screened and unscreened soil. I'm getting the screened stuff, so hopefully it won't have too many rocks. I like the chicken wire idea. . .I'll definately do that.

 

thanks for the info guys.

[Missoula Griz]

Back hoe

[Gonkis]

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/constructio....jpg&position=5

 

Holy crap. . . Isn't that a little overkill for 1000 square feet? Why am I hearing the phrase "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" in my head?

 

 

Perhaps, but I like to use the excuse of an outdoor project to rent big equipment. I put a retaining wall in the backyard and rented a full-size backhoe. Silly, but fun, and my then 3 year old boy was in heaven watching from the window.

 

You might be surprised at the skid steer being about $80 or so for 4 hours. Easy to use, drives with tank-like controls... and saves your back.

[cliaz]

Back hoe

 

 

 

I doubt Vicky could do the job. Jeez

[Missoula Griz]

I doubt Vicky could do the job. Jeez

 

 

[whomper]

Do you have any dumb children in the neighborhood? Tell them it's an Easter Egg hunt.

 

 

 

That was great

[The Irish Doggy]

Dude, 5 cubic yards is nothing. I thought you were going to put in a whole new raised planting bed or something.

 

I just spread that amount into a 700 sq ft patch (~ 3 inches deep) in my back yard last weekend with a spade shovel and a gravel rake. With new seed and everything, it only took about 2.5 hours. I was covering up an old sand box / playset area, so didn't work the soil into the sand.

 

At most, you need to rent a tiller and forget about the rocks unless they prevent the tiller from working.

Edited June 7, 2007 by The Irish Doggy

[wiegie]

Do you have any dumb children in the neighborhood? Tell them it's an Easter Egg hunt.

 

[CaptainHook]

you might want to cancel the order of topsoil. order planting mix or at the very least, black dirt. what you are ordering is a whole truckload of what you've already got . . . then just till it into the existing soil. wait till after a good rain, collect any rocks you see . . . repeat.

Edited June 8, 2007 by CaptainHook

[SheikYerbuti]

Dude, 5 cubic yards is nothing. I thought you were going to put in a whole new raised planting bed or something.

 

I just spread that amount into a 700 sq ft patch (~ 3 inches deep) in my back yard last weekend with a spade shovel and a gravel rake. With new seed and everything, it only took about 2.5 hours. I was covering up an old sand box / playset area, so didn't work the soil into the sand.

 

At most, you need to rent a tiller and forget about the rocks unless they prevent the tiller from working.

 

 

My blueprint calls for about 200 square feet of planting space (not raised, but I am going to enclose it with some 2x6's bracketed together with L brackets and dig about a foot down, so I'll need enough soil for about 15 inches depth). Then I was planning on seeding the rest of the space with grass. In the middle of the whole thing I'm putting a fire pit for smores, about 40 inches across. It should come out great, if it looks anything like it does in my imagination.

 

thanks again for the info. . .

[SheikYerbuti]

you might want to cancel the order of topsoil. order planting mix or at the very least, black dirt. what you are ordering is a whole truckload of what you've already got . . . then just till it into the existing soil. wait till after a good rain, collect any rocks you see . . . repeat.

 

 

What's the deal on planting mix? The place I'm getting the top soil from is about $100 for 5 cubic yards with delivery included. I'm guessing planting mix is much more expensive. I was thinking of getting about 10 bags of manure (40 lbs each, total cost around $25) and tilling it in to make it vegetable friendly. Not good enough?

[CaptainHook]

What's the deal on planting mix? The place I'm getting the top soil from is about $100 for 5 cubic yards with delivery included. I'm guessing planting mix is much more expensive. I was thinking of getting about 10 bags of manure (40 lbs each, total cost around $25) and tilling it in to make it vegetable friendly. Not good enough?

 

planting mix has very high organic content, and thus retains more water. It'd be much better than manure and topsoil. Topsoil is crap.