I've got this 300m² garden that I just leveled with a mini digger, but now I've got a ton of bricks, rocks, and gravel mixed into the soil. I'm aiming to clear out everything larger than gravel to a depth of about a foot (30-40cm). Rototillers aren't going to work with all this debris, and I want to sort it out now before I start planting grass or anything else. What options do I have for removing these stones?
2 Answers
At this point, you might want to consider hiring professionals with the right equipment. A large mechanical soil screener or even a digger would do the trick for removing those stones. Depending on access to your garden, you could even have a JCB come in, take the top 30cm of soil, and have it cleaned and returned. Alternatively, if you're looking for a simpler solution, you could just buy topsoil and lay it over the existing mess.
Why not hire a local teenager to help out? They could pick out the stones by hand, which might be cheaper if you don't want to go all-out on professional landscapers. Just a thought! But honestly, it sounds like a bit of a tough job, and if the soil's in a poor state after leveling it, a landscaper could really save you some stress.
Yeah, if they've turned over the soil, it could compact badly, making it harder to move forward. A landscaper can help assess what needs to be done next.