My backyard in Riverside, CA is filled with hard, yellow dirt which is about as hard as concrete. I used a pick ax to dig into the dirt and the ax stopped 1 inch down; its about 30% pebbles and the dirt is rock hard. My pick eventually hit some larger rocks and the end is bent! What can I do to make this land plant-able? Please be as detailed as possible, including all the steps/timeline.
2006-08-23 09:48:07 · 5 answers · asked by ezyeee 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
I live in AZ and have the same hard clay dirt.Before you dig, water the dirt to make it soft. The longer you soak it the easier it will be.Add sugar sand or playground sand to help with aeration, and lots of manure, and potters mix. Bags of manure and potter mix. It's cheap and it works. I can now dig my garden with a shovel instead of a pick axe.
2006-08-24 17:59:23 · answer #1 · answered by blindfredd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't say how big of a hurry you are in. If you can put down a couple of inches of topsoil and plant a green manure like buckwheat or alfalfa and get it growing, it will help break up the hardpan. This will take at minimum two to three years. You will still have to add compostable material.
If you are wanting to add landscaping plants, you can dig as deep as possible and then soak the area with water and let it work for a few hours, then repeat. When you get to the desired hole size, plant in an appropiate potting soil.
2006-08-23 10:50:09 · answer #2 · answered by duaner87421 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-04-15 06:33:08 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will need to have soil ammendment added to the soil by a professional landscaper. It will require several truck loads and then spread and rototilled in. I had to do this to my yard now I have the best grass of everyone in the neighborhood
2006-08-23 09:54:38 · answer #4 · answered by aussie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can do the things the others recommended and in the meantime plant your stuff in raised beds.
2006-08-23 12:23:12 · answer #5 · answered by juncogirl3 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋