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clay soil full of hardcore

hiacedrifterhiacedrifter Posts: 119
in Problem solving
Hey folks. I've dug up some hardstanding, which has left behind loads of stones and lumps of concrete in my heavy clay soil. I'd like to get rid of the lumps without losing too much soil ... can you sieve heavy clay soil or will it just sit in a big clod in the sieve? Would an electric rotary sieve work? I have several areas to do, 3x3 m, 3x3 m, 4x4 m, plus more later, so it is quite a big job!

Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It will be very hard to sieve clay. I think I would remove the obvious lumps and order some topsoil.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • hiacedrifterhiacedrifter Posts: 119
    Busy-Lizzie said:
    It will be very hard to sieve clay. I think I would remove the obvious lumps and order some topsoil.
    Eeeeeek. I think you're right. First job is to hire a skip and dig out the rough stuff. 36 bags of rubble so far, and i'm 10% through. sheesh
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited March 2021
    Don't attempt to sieve clay soil. In fact, handle it as little as possible! And stay off it! Just pull the big pieces of rock out from the surface. Rocks in the soil are not really a problem. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • seacrowsseacrows Posts: 234
    I've done it. 6' by 8' shed base, went down about 3', sieved the entire lot. Only did it because this patch turned itself into a bog garden every time it rained. Took me three weeks to pull out inch+ size rocks. If I had it to do again, I'd dig it out and skip the soil before putting hard-core in. Was sieving it worth doing? Money-wise, yes. Time and effort, injuries and mess created, no. 
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