Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Digging into rock solid ground

mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
in Problem solving
I have been trying to make a garden bed today.

The ground is rock solid. I put my fork in and irs so hard it does not even go onto the soil , neither the spade.

I had an old fork which worked until the it broke! 

Any idea techniques I could use

Posts

  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    Water it first, in copious amounts.
  • WimborneGreyWimborneGrey Posts: 11
    edited June 2020
    What about a no dig bed, cover the area with some cardboard or thick black plastic if it has a lot of weeds on it already. 

    Then once the weeds have died back cover the area with a inch or two of compost and you’re ready to go! 

    You then simply just plant into the compost rather than dig down into the soil.

    Have a read/watch of the “no dig” method by Charles Dowding, it’a really interesting. Look him up on YouTube.

    https://youtu.be/0LH6-w57Slw
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    As above, lots of water. After that try using a spade rather than a fork perhaps.  That should produce clods, or lumps of soil, and you can then use a fork (if you have another one) to break up the lumps.
    Take it steady, and take care of your back  :)
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 835
    I've had the same problem, not a garden bed though, I need to dig over the remainder of my lawn to level it out ready for gravelling. I did try some brute force with a hand tiller but all that happened was it reverberated painfully up my arm 😬 I did consider watering the ground, however, there are areas of Leicestershire that have had to have tankers of water brought in because the water supply has run out so didn't feel good about using the hose. I've just had to postpone things until there's been decent bit of rain to soften the ground a bit. Fortunately it rained heavily for a good few hours today.
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    Pickaxe or mattock. You need a tool which you can put a bit of oomph into safely. Take small bites at a time, like eating an elephant.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Water and THEN mattock.  Back breaking work, but works.  
    Utah, USA.
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    Clay soil is easy to dig if it has just the right amount of water, not so much that it becomes sticky. No need for a pickaxe or mattock.
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Soil like that is the story of my garden. I use a rotavator, once it is through the hardened top layer it starts to bring up the moist soil below. Wetting can help with any persistent hard lumps, allowing them to eventually break up into a fine tilth. 

    If it is suitable, I would consider the no-dig suggestion. An approach that is appealing to me more and more to tackle our awkward clay soil.
Sign In or Register to comment.