Hard Ground, Lots of stones

[Mickey]

Hi,
I have an area of ground that is very hard/compacted with a lot of large stones in it, I think the area has been used for building materials whilst an extension was built a few years ago. How is the best way for me to proceed to turn this into a small fruit area for strawberries, raspberries and perhaps small trees. Should I try and hack it open with a pick-axe or would covering it over with compost be okay, I’m wondering if the soil would begin to break open once it was covered and planted into.

[charles]

It depends what you mean by a lot of large stones.
I always remove any small boulders (!), say size of a rugby ball, which are poking above surface level. Otherwise they are in your way for ever.
Then I would cover with compost and plant into that, without expecting plants to be magnificent for a year or two, though improvement is soil and growth should be steady over many years.
If you are feeling energetic, some kind of fork-loosening would speed things up. Without seeing the soil its hard to be sure. If you notice some worms that is promising.

[Mickey]

Thanks Charles,
A lot of the stone is large chips of quite a decent size,. A nearby plot was full of large boulders which I have lifted as the ground there was a lot easier to work my way through. My wife found an old pick-axe in a local bric-a-brac so I will use that to get the ground broken up, if I find anything big then I’ll get it out and then start some new beds on top as the ground looks completely wasted, no chance of finding any worms in it 🙂

Thanks again,
Mickey

[Author]

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