My house and garden are built on a hill. The garden slopes downwards from the house. We are in the process of redoing the garden. While preparing the soil for a new lawn, I found this under the surface, right at the top of the garden where the soil is thinnesy. I suspect it is not the only one as I can see others of the same type of stone poking up when i move topsoil. Too big and heavy to move by hand, garden is not accessible to a digger.
Can I cover it in topsoil and still grow a lawn?
How much topsoil will I need to put on top of this monster?
Any other ideas?
by ChrispyDM
24 Comments
Need to get a kango (concrete breaker) and break that down. Want at least 10-15cm fertilised topsoil under turf .
You’re going to need a bigger trowel…
How deep down are we talking?
If its only inches, then nope, grass won’t grow.
Is it a new build? If so, get the builders back to remove it. Nothing will grow above that without raising the ground level by a foot or more, and even then, it’d be better to get it removed. Drainage will most likely be a problem there if it isn’t removed.
Good news is a lot of rocks are semi-easy to remove yourself if you are willing to put in the manual labour to dig them out. Although, if that image is all one rock, this one looks large enough it’d probably need broken up by something first.
How deep? You’ll just end up with a dead patch as soon as the weather drys up.
Depending on it’s size i would be digging that out and using it as a centerpiece in my garden
On the first whack, check for ticking before whacking it again 😁
In the photo it looks a little bit like concrete, but if its actually rock you might not be able to remove it without “magic mountain moving material” (as an old caving acquaintance used to phrase it) or considerable patience with a kango.
You could try what this guy did 😂
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL5mbNjuyC6/?igsh=MWJuY2V2NnE1ZHBvMw==
Updateme
When I was a landscape architect, the general guidelines we used for minimum soil depth were 30cm for grasses/perennials, 60cm for shrubs, and 90cm for trees.
I think I’d try making it into a feature, a stepped or terraced garden lawn.
You never know, there could be something interesting on it like cup and ring marks if it’s bedrock.
Excavate around them and see what kind of thickness/depth they go first. If shallow/not to thick you might get away with a few hours with a sledgehammer and club hammer and cold chisel. My guess is they are probably substantial if it’s not a new build and previous owners have not removed any of the more protruding obvious lumps. How steep is the hill the garden is on? Is there absolutely no way you could get a 3.5 ton digger in to save you a lot of back ache? If the rocks do prove to be big buggers might be as cheap to get a landscaper or two in to give a quote.
It’s the top of an ancient buried mountain community.
Or perhaps the lid of an ancient tomb. God knows what you are about to unleash.
Getting Tommyknockers vibes!!!
Use it as a feature. It’s easier and cheaper
Looks like the remains of a wall. If it was my garden i’d be getting very excited, doing some historical research … only to discover it’s an old pond.
Lay turf over it and then add stepping stone type paving slabs to create a path where the rocks are?
I’d dig it out but you will be like Andy Dufresne in shawshank with the rock hammer with that wee trowel
Have you dug deeper and tried to find the bottom of the rock. We have a large rock area in our garden we’ve nicknamed “the quarry” and have dug and rolled quite a few large rocks out and even more smaller ones. I’ve also found that what often appears to be one rock can be several once you start levering them out of the ground. I recommend a pointy trowel for investigating.
I’ve seen people on US subs using something called Dexpan demolition grout. Apparently you can buy it on [Amazon uk] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dexpan-Demolition-Excavating-Alternative-Jackhammer/dp/B00ET9OVW6)
It’s not going to be easy, but easier than using a jack hammer, especially if you have an SDS drill to make the holes.
Drill some holes, put the grout in and the boulder splits apart
Dig around it and make it into a feature ..
Add topsoil to raise the level above the rock before laying? If that’s not an option hire one of those things they use to break up concrete and pulverise/break it up for moving.