Garden Tips for Digging Holes in Rocky Soils
El Dorado Hills is notorious for rocky soils. You will find many stones in our natural topography while installing a landscape project and DIY gardeners may find it very challenging. Also, many times you will find extremely rocky soil in the backyard fill soil of new construction homes in the area.
There are several tools you can use to help dig easier in our soils and we’ve included links to products we use and recommend.
Please note, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, so if you do buy one of our recommended items below, we would really appreciate you directly purchasing from the links below. Thank you!
The best tool we use on site to dig holes and break up rocks is the electric demolition jack hammer. This tool makes things so easy and is not very expensive. It saves you so much time digging. You can find the one we use on Amazon here: Electric Jack Hammer and to make digging even easier, make sure you buy this Spade Chisel Bit
One that we use often on projects is the power earth auger (pictured above). It allows you to mechanically drill into the soil and break up hardpacked soils and loosen rocks. However, if you hit a large boulder, the auger won’t drill through it and you’ll have to manually remove them. Here’s a great auger you can get on Amazon: Power Auger
A low cost alternative is a pickaxe which usually has two different tools on the end: a narrow pick and a flat hoe-like feature. You can use these two features in tandem by driving the pick into areas around the rock and then using the hoe to pull the rock out. This combination can be very effective. Here’s a pickaxe you can buy on Amazon: Pickaxe and also a small hand pickaxe for getting into tighter spaces: Hand Pickaxe
Sometimes even with the jack hammer, auger and the pickaxe, you’ll still need the old classic garden tool, the pointed shovel/spade. This can help to get under the rock and leverage against the top of the hole to pry up the rock. Here’s one from Amazon that’s great: Shovel/Spade
Another option is a landscape digging'/pry bar which is a long bar with a flat end that can act similar to the pointed shovel but it can get into tighter spaces and get even more torque to pry out rocks. This is a great digging bar on Amazon: Digging Bar
Another tip is lightly wetting the area to soften the soil and allow the tools to dig in easier, just be careful not to make the hole too muddy, especially in clay soil which will not drain the water easily.
These are the best tools for you DIYers and as my grandfather always used to say, “You’re only as good as your tools.” So choose wisely based upon the extent of your garden project.
Working in rocky soil is difficult so if you have a large area of landscaping, its best to get a professional involved and save yourself the backbreaking work that is sometimes involved with digging in rocky soil.
If you have a landscape project that you need design help with, we’d love the opportunity to meet and provide you with a free estimate. Please fill out a New Project Inquiry Form here: https://www.gill-gardens.com/new-project-inquiry-form and someone from our office will contact you to schedule a consultation.
Full disclosure: the Amazon links above are part of their affiliate associates program so we appreciate everyone who orders directly from them. Thank you!
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Greg Gill is a Professional Landscape Architect with over 25 years of designing, installing and maintaining residential gardens and landscapes. He is passionate about helping his clients achieve a garden space they will love and enjoy for years.
Registered Landscape Architect
State of California #6489
Gill Gardens serves the greater El Dorado Hills, California area, including Folsom, Granite Bay, Roseville, Sacramento and everywhere in between.
