Any gardening minded engineers out there?

[Calps]

Disclaimer - I am not a gardening mined engineer. It's partly why I have this problem, but I'm learning as I go.

There's small patch of grass between the left of my drive and the properties boundary wall. A year ago, I dug it up and covered it in (what I thought was) weed management fabric, and then covered it with some sandstone gravel chips. It looked lovely.

Alas, the weed fabric was not weed fabric, and grass, weeds etc grew through. After a year of inaction, it was horribly overgrown, and needed to be addressed. So I cut the grass back as much as I could with a strimmer, and then started lifting it all back up.

The problem I have is that the original stone chips were embedded/encased in the greenery that had grown around it, and while I've separated them to a good degree, there's still a large amount of loose grass, roots, dirt etc that linger in the chips. I want to separate the two so that I have nice clean stone that I can put back down.


Basically I want to get it from this:

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To this:

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Current plan - spread it out on the ground (per photos above), let it dry out, and leaf blower the stuff away. The downside - I live in Ireland, not exactly famed for it's sunny weather.

Apart from picking it all apart by hand, does anyone have any suggestions how I can speed this process up?

[Pondrew]

Gardening sieve/ riddle something like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/apollo-apoll ... lsrc=aw.ds and a pressure washer or hose pipe. It will still take a while.
If you have a cement mixer, throw it in with some water

[Calps]

Gardening sieve/ riddle something like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/apollo-apoll ... lsrc=aw.ds and a pressure washer or hose pipe. It will still take a while.
If you have a cement mixer, throw it in with some water

Thanks, I didn't know such a thing existed (although I had been trying to fashion something similar by using a shopping trolley - spoiler alert: it did not work very well), so I guess I'm thinking n the right direction.

I think I need to make my peace with the fact that there is no quick n easy option for this (well, one that is immediately accessible to me anyway), but the above should have an incremental impact on the level of effort required.

[Calps]

If you have a cement mixer, throw it in with some water

Actually..... this suggestion has got me thinking - most of his stuff will/should probably float.

1) Get barrel/bucket etc
2) Fill half way with chips
3) Fill with water
4) Swirl around
5) Skim the debris off the top
6) Laugh maniacally

[buzyg]

Soil doesn't float well.

The right size rake would make that job easier. I take it the original fabric layer you laid down has been destroyed? If not try pulling it up with every thing on top, then start afresh. You can certainly wash the stones and re-use them. Maybe combine the two ideas so far and adapt a barrel to make a deep riddle. Then jet wash the lose dirt through the mesh to leave your stones. Hope you find a less back breaking solution than just picking the stones out. Good luck with it.

[Pondrew]

Thanks, I didn't know such a thing existed (although I had been trying to fashion something similar by using a shopping trolley - spoiler alert: it did not work very well), so I guess I'm thinking n the right direction.

So you don't have a riddle but do have a shopping trolley??

[Pondrew]

I think I need to make my peace with the fact that there is no quick n easy option for this (well, one that is immediately accessible to me anyway)

There is; throw the chippings away and buy some more!

[firebobby]

Washing machine will do it, let us know how you get on

[Calps]

Soil doesn't float well.

The right size rake would make that job easier. I take it the original fabric layer you laid down has been destroyed? If not try pulling it up with every thing on top, then start afresh. You can certainly wash the stones and re-use them. Maybe combine the two ideas so far and adapt a barrel to make a deep riddle. Then jet wash the lose dirt through the mesh to leave your stones. Hope you find a less back breaking solution than just picking the stones out. Good luck with it.

Yes, original fabric has been fully taken up (and 2 layers of proper fabric laid back down, just to be safe ). The effort to get it off the ground with all of the roots intertwined was something else. Nature truly is a force to be reckoned with.

Fortunately I've gotten most of the soil already, what remains are mainly roots, and the remnants of strimmed grass. If the cement mixer inspired whirlpool of death option gets rid of that, I can rake and power wash away any residual soil that remains.

[Calps]

Thanks, I didn't know such a thing existed (although I had been trying to fashion something similar by using a shopping trolley - spoiler alert: it did not work very well), so I guess I'm thinking n the right direction.

So you don't have a riddle but do have a shopping trolley??

You don't???

[Calps]

I think I need to make my peace with the fact that there is no quick n easy option for this (well, one that is immediately accessible to me anyway)

There is; throw the chippings away and buy some more!

The mad thing is, I'm buying more anyway, as SWMBO likes the finish and wants the back garden perimeter finished in the same fashion. It'd be an awful waste,l though, and I don't want to back down from a (self inflicted) challenge

[Calps]

Washing machine will do it, let us know how you get on

That gave me a giggle. But then I remembered there's an outdoor laundry at our local supermarket, and now I'm trying to talk myself out of attempting it, for like, scientific purposes.

[Pondrew]

So you don't have a riddle but do have a shopping trolley??
You don't???

I did but got the pound out and threw mine in the river; doesn't everybody?

[Calps]

So you don't have a riddle but do have a shopping trolley??
You don't???

I did but got the pound out and threw mine in the river; doesn't everybody?

Pretty sure I found your trolley.

[Ole gits rule]

Just start again, not worth the hassle - trust me I hate gardening but having watched SWMBO try this and in the end start again with my help.

I would put some garçon down before you put liner down - it will kill just about anything except grass which may help with stuff growing through