new here and need help

[mahmoud]

hello everybody, am new here and new to gardening, i have a garden all around the house and am starting to design it but am facing a problem every time i try to dig a hole for a plant or to build brick border, now am trying to build a brick border, i need to divide a peace of the garden to plant different kind of fruit. the problem is the soil is very hard and full with stones and it is taking me alot of time to do a small dig, what can i do to make it easier to dig? if there is a way to do it easier.

 

[Chuck]

hello everybody, am new here and new to gardening, i have a garden all around the house and am starting to design it but am facing a problem every time i try to dig a hole for a plant or to build brick border, now am trying to build a brick border, i need to divide a peace of the garden to plant different kind of fruit. the problem is the soil is very hard and full with stones and it is taking me alot of time to do a small dig, what can i do to make it easier to dig? if there is a way to do it easier.

There is no easy way. No one yet has invented an automatic pick and shovel so the next easiest way is to have someone else do it. But why do it anyway? Why not just bring in soil and make raised beds?

 

[mahmoud]

There is no easy way. No one yet has invented an automatic pick and shovel so the next easiest way is to have someone else do it. But why do it anyway? Why not just bring in soil and make raised beds?

cuz the land is not flat and if i added soil they will drifted by the water in winter ,
and another reason is that am trying to make some flower planting brick boxes all around the house walls.
i think i need to upload some pictures so you can see what am trying to do, ill upload some tomorrow.

 

[mahmoud]

am trying to do something like this all around the house.

 

[mahmoud]

i have some olive trees in front of the house and i have a space of like 3 meters between every 2 trees so i was thinking that i can build some brick borders so i can add some more soil first cuz the soil in my land seems not to be very good, and to level the land a little where i want to put the plants.
the things all around the house as in the picture in the post before will be for flowers, and the once between the olive trees am thinking to make one for tomato and one for cucumber, mint, i dont know what ever i can plant. so what do you think ?

 

[Chuck]

i have some olive trees in front of the house and i have a space of like 3 meters between every 2 trees so i was thinking that i can build some brick borders so i can add some more soil first cuz the soil in my land seems not to be very good, and to level the land a little where i want to put the plants.
the things all around the house as in the picture in the post before will be for flowers, and the once between the olive trees am thinking to make one for tomato and one for cucumber, mint, i dont know what ever i can plant. so what do you think ?

Google building terraced raised beds. There are all kinds of ideas

 

[mahmoud]

its almost all made by wood, but i think winter will destroy the wood, i want something that would live

 

[mahmoud]

thank you anyways ill see what i can do

 

[Chuck]

its almost all made by wood, but i think winter will destroy the wood, i want something that would live

It seems as though you have plenty of rocks there. Mix a little cement and add your rocks. Just design it to use the same wood that you use for the forms over and over again. It would last forever and cement is cheap

 

[mahmoud]

 

[mahmoud]

thats the side of the house, see how much leveling the lands needs,

 

[Chuck]

Exactly. That's why terrace. Use the shape of the land to an advantage. You don't have to level the land, you level the terrace. Look at what the Tibetans and Chinese have done. They built terraced farms on almost perpendicular mountain sides

 

[mahmoud]

Exactly. That's why terrace. Use the shape of the land to an advantage. You don't have to level the land, you level the terrace. Look at what the Tibetans and Chinese have done. They built terraced farms on almost perpendicular mountain sides

thats a good idea, ill see how can it be done.

 

[Beth_B]

Yes what Chuck said. My last house had a slope for the front yard, terrible clay soil and was a mess. With the help of a friend I used concrete pavers and decent soil to build it into a two-level terrace. It was a bit of work and expense but once planted with perennials and ground cover it was pretty much zero-maintenance. I wish I had photos to share!