Soil Improvement For New Beds Previously Under Concrete.

May not be relevant, but when we removed the tennis court (and uncovered black, vile smelling clay that hadn't seed daylight for years) I got the local farmer in to pull a chisel plough through it - basically a curved spike with an arrow-head on the tip, which rips through the hard pan and "disturbs" and lifts it a bit. It doesn't turn the soil over like a plough, nor mix up the top and bottom zones. It improves drainage, lets the air in, and that's about it. That was a couple of months ago and the change has been dramatic.

Small garden alternative would probably be to get a small digger in and dig out the "top" zone, stack on one side, then dig up the "bottom" and put it back again - that will break it up, and break through the hard pan. Then put the top zone back (on top). Then do the same for the other half of the plot (or the next "strip")

Then I would let it settle, level it off, and put topsoil on the top if you are making a lawn, or manure / spent mushroom compost / similar (and maybe topsoil as well) if you are making flower beds.

 

I don't really have much money to spend on a mini digger and my garden is very good for access. I guess we will have to do it by hand.

 

How about leaving the hose running on it for a while, to get it wet through. Then get your mates round under the pretense of free beer, and make them take turns at digging a bit out. Reward them with said beer once you've seen some progress, otherwise they might not come back to finish the job.

 

Understood :( But just in case you want to consider it (it would save a lot of time, compared to doing it by hand :( ) I looked for a quote online (may, or may not, be similar price in your area). 3 ton digger is £135 for the day, or £170 for the weekend. It shouldn't take more than a day, but if you are new to it you might be a bit more cautious and then it might take a weekend.

No wider than a car, so assuming that you used to be able to get a car down the driveway access should not be a problem. There are smaller ones available if access is tight, but in my experience getting a heavier one means you can dig faster, and dig harder ground more easily too.

 

Essex hasn't really had much rain lately, even though the rest of the country has and feel it would be a waste of water to be using it on bare clay instead of my other plants instead.

I seemed to be unfortunate to have friends who are not interested, don't have the time or the health to be able to help out. Only the other half is willing to help out and he has a dodgy back too. It's a bit frustrating really.

We used to be able to get a car down the driveway no problem. But it's become more tricky since I took half of the driveway up. Also some of the pathways that run along said bed in question measure about 60cm wide. This picture may explain it better.



All this is being replaced in 3 weeks time with a wider block paving path. But don't feel comfortable driving a mini digger down it. I am however giving it considerable consideration. Thank you for the quote I did look on a few sites but none of them would give me a price.

A family member told me he hired a mini digger recently and that the soil was so dense that the digger itself was lifted up while the bucket stayed in place. I found this a bit off putting.

I apologise for the negativity of this reply but that's the situation I am currently in and welcome anymore suggestions. They are all being given consideration.

 

Everything you say is right. When I'm pulling up a tree stump with a digger the whole machine tilts at an alarming angle, and if the bucket slips off the tree stump, or the stump "comes up", then it all falls back with a big crunch ... doesn't hurt the machine, but is unnerving until you've had the experience a few times and gained confidence. The key (I think) is to use the largest machine you can, because that is the amount of "weight" that is being used to lever the tricky stuff out of the ground.

If your path is as wide as the gate at the end you'll have no problem getting a digger in, but swinging the bucket left & right will be a problem. You would probably be able to work front-to-back instead of left-to-right, but you still have to swing enough to reach the left and right extremities (although the diggers I have used have the option of swivelling the bucket arm, instead of the whole cab).

But as you might have gathered the Annual Hire of a digger is a Big Boy's Toys Event for me

I wonder if there is some other piece of kit you could hire. Something "walk behind". Only thing I can think of is a trenching machine, which would make trenches through the hard ground, but I don't know how easily you would be able to make trenches "side by side", and it wouldn't be any use if you were needing to pull out lumps of concrete etc.

Jack hammer maybe ?