Ground too hard?

Where us this spot you found? For instance is it in some woods, out in the open, in some grass lands? Etc.... I ask because if it's in the woods it can be watered and kept soft or same for grass lands with some mulch but if it's jus a bare spot out in the middle of nowhere I think it would continually dry out and bbecome hard making it too much work to keep moist n soft. There are ways to soften ground and keep it that way but can't really help much not knowing what kind of area we are dealing with. So I guess we need more info on the type of spot you got picked out man.

Another tip.. If there isn't anything growing there yet.... You plants probably won't grow there either w/o some serious changes...

If it is an amazing spot, Pile organics on the spots you want to plant (Hay, leaves, etc) and it may be ready for next year. Or just plant in a Hay bale and treat it like Coco or passive Hydro. then after a season, the ground underneath should be better for direct planting.

Thanks guys. there is alot of weeds i had to hack through .its pretty much on flat land behind a farmers feild. tall weeds about chest high i had to chop down then found that the ground was rock hard.

sounds like a promising spot by that little bit of info. brains a ticking now. i got a similar spot as well minus the hard soil... suppose a tiller is out of the question? if not till it up throw in a bunch of organic stuff, hay,straw,leaves etc... just some stuff to add to the soil. it will all help. if you cant get a tiller back in there which i suspect, bring a shovel and start diggin in. loosen as much soil as possible. bare with me im throwing out as many ideas as possbile here. if it were me i would be hauling in alot of manure along with some rotted hay, lots of good compost, maybe even some composted manure, some gypsum, some lime maybe some composted turkey or chicken manure, all of which are pretty cheap. you could obatin all these ingredients in a good quantity for less than a hundred bucks. way less. if the shovel is too much work go to home depot lowes menards and get yourself a tool called a broadfork. google it first im sure there is some info on them maybe even some video's showing you how and why to use one. overall i think a broadfork would be just what you're after. it would get the job done in a hurry, atleast more of a hurry than a spade. lol both will be alot of work. if you want to go cheap get a broadfork, and atleast some manure and compost. then once you get the soil worked up good and plant what you need planted go back over and cover everything except your plants (obviously) with some sort of mulch. whether it be hay or straw you bring in or just walk around that chest high weed patch and pull a bunch of that shit out and throw it on the ground. try to get it no less than 1/2 thick preferable an inch or thicker. this will keep the soil moist and out of the sun ensuring that the ground underneath stays soft. then the next year since you had all this mulch down this year it will be fairly composted and once you turn it into your soil you will only have to plant your plants without much effort. but for this year use that broadfork to loosen, stir in some manure and compost, plant, mulch and keep on top of the moisture level. you're not gonna want it to dry out too much or you'll be back at square one.

i have hard clay soil...i have this 8 foot steel rod with a spike @ the end....it works great....

Bring a pick axe with u next time that'll get the job done!!!

thanks guys all great advice. the hoe i had was this


I am gonna go back and bring a shovel. just hope knowone sees me. its off a bridge going east with the river, i bring a fishing rod and now, a shovel. :0Ugly-Tools-Hoe-Cultivator-01.gif

With hard ground, that tool will not be enough. You'll just bend the tines. You need a pick ax. If it were me, I'd dig a hole large enough to use 5 gallons of good soil. Put your plant in the good soil, then top dress with some of the dirt you dig out to even the appearance.

Oh, it might be kinda late for seeds...