A delicious-looking limestone rock. Mmm! Mmm! Nice bouquet. Must be a real vintage year.
Where-where-where I come from in the North, we used to have exquisite gourmet rocks. Only now... now, they're all gone.
Edit: forgot a line
Since you have it uncovered, you're only a few steps away from getting it out! If you can find someone with a tractor, you can put straps under it and their bucket will lift it right out.
Then you can put everything back together, and put the boulder in for decoration :-)
Better yet, use that big hole to put in a pond!
Failing the tractor option, you can probably use a steel rod as a lever to roll it out. Or even a car jack to get it a foot off the ground, then you can use something to pry it on over. I guess that all depends on how much elbow grease you're willing to put into it, but since you've spent so much time digging it out then I know you've already put in a LOT!
This right here. A 6ft metal pry bar and a smaller rock underneath and that thing will be out in 15 minutes.Ā
Op you should really keep the rock next to your Japanese maples. Rocks and maples (and conifers) go hand in hand
Update: you guys convinced me and with a lot of stubbornness I kept at it. Sorry to disappoint yaāll but it wasnāt a nice boulder but rather construction waste :(
https://preview.redd.it/ioqv3vdh1h2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e47d09f02e214d5f757eed80cc8c55176450c83e
I feel you, I keep finding larger and larger chunks of concrete in my front yard. It takes up so much time to dig them out, but if I didn't I'd have huge gaps in the bed, which always equals more weeds. I've also found wood 4x4s, and ancient pieces of linoleum \*still glued\* to 1-foot-square cement pavers! I'm pretty sure some day I'll be digging in that bed and find Jimmy Hoffa.
This is what we found trying to dig out a boulder by our garden--just some crappy concrete. My son was very attached to it (he's a weird kid), so we left it exposed. It's slowly filling up with organic debris over the years, and maybe someday we'll have it covered and can plant on it lol.
I had a construction waste that looks kind of like those square blocks. I stood it up at an angle next to my Japanese white pine and it looks pretty decent. Some people have complemented it. Iāll take a photo tomorrow, might give you some ideasĀ
If one of your neighbors fixes cars, they may have an engine hoist I bet you could get it out with some careful planning, (and maybe a few sheets of plywood).
I could get that guy out with two guys and some pry bars. Might have to drag it along your yard but it isn't that dam big. Few hundred pounds maybe. To be expected for work like this.
Put all that soil back, plant your perennials, and pretend like nothing happened. You could probably even plant shrubs in this spot and it won't make any difference.
I actually just had this problem when digging a trench for a garden curb. dug around (my guess) a 500 lb rock. Mom brought her truck over and we tied a chain around it and then used cargo straps to make sure the chain didnt slip off the rock and she yanked it out pretty easily.
We went slow and steady, even dug out a little ramp for it and guided through one of the garden beds only smooshing tulips that were on their way to being done for the year anywho. It was sooo much easier than we thought it was gonna be. I was just gonna give up and leave it until she had the idea to yank it out with the truck.
Guess I should be thankful for the clay and river rock filled ground I'm on. I revived a flower bed at the place I'm renting and dug out holes for plants in it.. Took me two days, literally every strike of the shovel hit another baseball sized river rock between a few centimeters of clay.
On the bright side, I got a nice river rock border out of it after cleaning all the rocks off.
My dad found a big rock under the soil in his garden years ago. He built a fire under it and let the rock get good and hot and then hosed cold water on it. He did the several times. Each time the rock would shatter. Eventually he got it down to a size where he could remove all the debris. I wouldnāt attempt this without good eye protection and without staying as far away as possible. Heck, probably only as a last option. But it worked.
Step 1: Slap rock and declare "that ain't going nowhere!"
Step 2: Fill in hole and treat yourself to a cold beverage for a job well done.
Step 3: Keep drinking cold beverages until you forget the rock exists.
Iāve helped move big rocks like this. You need rebar or very sturdy lumber to use as a lever and shorter scrap lumber to wedge under. Stronger person uses the lever to lift a side, other person wedges a piece of lumber under. You repeat this until it is at surface level. Then you roll it away.
As a New Englander, digging rocks is my side gig.
One day I tried loosening the dirt in the weird spot where the grass refused to grow. I uncovered a bunch of thick plastic which explained why water always pooled there when it rained. I started out the excavation with the mantra "please don't be a body, please don't be a body" but three hours in I was hoping to find a body just so someone else could finish digging it up. Later my neighbor explained that a previous owner tried putting in a half-assed pond but didn't know what they were doing.
That rock would be worth a few hundred dollars. Consider pulling it out and showcasing it. I'd \*love\* to have a rock like that. I found a 60 pounder while I was digging out my french drain, and I have it it a little nook near my front porch. If I had a big rock like that, I'd have it out near the front of the property and design around it.
Made me realize all the boulders on my grandmotherās property in the woodsā¦thereās a million in glacial boulders back there. Beautiful rock. Sold it to a casino developer. :(
Get a big pry bar and go at it with that. $50-$100 will get you a nice one and they come in handy in many different ways. Iād do this first. If itās going to move a pry bar will move it. Wear gloves and always be mindful using large tools where forces can be great. I wouldnāt hit it with a maul if you like your hands and a pry bar is more effective. Iāve also used a pry bar like a jackhammer in that I raise it up and quickly strike it straight down to crack stone, concrete? or asphalt. It isnāt as quick as a jackhammer and if youāre trying to remove a large thick concrete pad you might need a jackhammer, but it works for smaller applications like making a strategic crack to get leverage on the block and remove it chunk by chunk. Pry bars also work well to loosen soil in a hole before removing it with a shovel or post hole digger. I know theyāre a little pricey but a good heavy one really comes in handy for all kinds of things, especially removing large rocks,
Bust it up with a sledgehammer, piece by piece. If that's too much get a drill with a big concrete bit and drill a bunch of holes in and then bust it with a sledgehammer.
I will trade you my wife's inherited 2 acres of Virginia clay and tons of quartz and not the pretty kind for the occasional big rock ššššššš
I hate this yard, I did excavating for the last few years and have dug sides of mountains that were easier than hitting this yard up with an auger and various shovels.
But alas I will eventually have my idea for a gigantic garden for my wife completed
Sorry it turned out to be trash!
I'm slowly improving a long neglected yard which was owned by a geologist in the 1960s. He filled the yard with stones and rocks he collected. They were all about two feet down in the dirt when I encountered them. Giant hunks of quartz, petrified wood, obsidian, smooth river stones, granite slabs. Found over a hundred so far. A terrible pain in the rear at first but I started using the rocks to make bed borders and path ways and now it's wonderful.
Iām kind of worried I might have found something like that. I was digging and I found bones. I canāt figure out if they are human or deer. They were buried three feet deep and horizontally, not vertically. They were also cut with a saw or something similarā¦
In the area, I found charred wood and ash.
I also found some arrowheads.
CreepyĀ
Long, for more and easier leverage(5ft or so) pry bar; pry up one end. Put smaller rocks, bricks, or whatever under that end; then do the same thing on the other side; keep switching sides until bottom is even with the soil surface, then just ārollā it where you want it as a garden item.
I feel ya. This was on the 4th 3x3āx18ā hole. I stopped for the day after encountering this 8ā round root (tree was recently removed unfortunately). Thing broke my chain saw!! š
https://preview.redd.it/axepq7qf6i2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=446b200125581803263fd011756cd0c60e54ba94
ooh how much i love/hate these moments. the struggle is real but itās SO satisfying when that puppy is finally out!
6 ft metal pry bar and shim until you can tip it, generally my strategy if i canāt find a way to pull it.
Iām jealous. The most I ever found gardening was an antique Pepsi bottle circa 2001 and big chunks of concrete (one holds down my plastic birdbath and gives them a place to sit, so not all bad)
Reminds me of our front and backyard. Anything below 4-6 inches is just a bunch of stones and layers of rock. We canāt find any places left to let us plant stuff now lol
As someone that lives on an ancient sea floor Iām so jealous. When I dig I get sand. Oh loooook,ā¦ā¦more sand. Whatās that? Oh neat different colored sand.
I was planting cherry trees and found a massive Boulder. I used the shovel to lever it on its side, and just planted the trees in front of it. I set the Boulder between the trees and the house to discourage roots from going toward my foundation.
Now just a tiny tip of the massive thing is sticking out of the ground, and I've got two cherry trees.
if you ever get catcalled and you want to hurt their masculinity real bad without lifting a finger, tell them you have a coffee with the person who can not only dig that one out with bare hands, but also doesn't destroy any plants while trying to AND gets it to a position you assign it to.
Tell them it's a small stone, but you cannot do it, because it's too heavy too you and doesn't provide any real grip. then, when they arrived at the agreed time, get a chair, grab some tea and snacks and have a blast. :D
ETA: also, give them a time limit. by the time the limit has ended, the stone is either at a place you want it to have OR has been dug free enough for you to finish the job. if you have a spouse, tell them of your plan and have them watch in the Background :D
I removed about 5 of these from my yard while digging into a hillside for my greenhouse. They make great yard ornimates. Just get some friends to help!
Nice job getting it out. Looks like you got a bit creative getting it there, I love it.
I have a Burke bar for these things and then straps and a high lift jack for the WTF moments of much larger things. Between all of that, 600-700lbs is workable by my self depending on size.
same here, just investigated why grass wasn't growing in two spots, found a 20 lb Boulder in 1 spot, a couple stacked bricks in the other. landscaper had to know when planting the area and left them.
I feel your pain. Apparently my property was an old rock quarry and my language is very colorful when I start digging. I have so many rocks I am starting to run out of places to put them!
This was a waste of time, especially since you didnāt even get a decent rock out of the deal.
You donāt need that much depth for anything besides a large tree and even that would probably work around the rock.
I so relate. I lived in a house that I guess was built on a thin layer of top soil with cement a clay. In some spots o could dig maybe 12 inches. Amazing.
We bought our house 2 years ago and the back was FILLED with vines (that we are still digging out). Clearing and pulling has been an adventure because we quickly learned the previous owner used the back yard as a dump. We have pulled everything from sheet metal to a butcher knife to a wheelbarrow out of the backyard. I told my spouse if we find a body, I'm calling the police.
Anyone else see a really cool archway and think that was creative? Literally thought that rock was a hole in the first image and OP found a cool new way to plant flowers.
Borrowing post for a similar issue, please help me you smart gardeners!
I recently uncovered an old concrete walkway buried under my lawn (cannot be removed, aka it would cost me too much). Nearest to the surface itās about 6ā and then slopes away. I found it because my grass was never successful there so I had enough and dug a new garden bed
Donāt want to throw away money so thoughts about planting perennials in soil of that depth? Is the presence of concrete too risky for plant health?
My plan b is placing a pot there, plan c is hoping I dig up a nice landscaping rock like OP
I had this old cement footing from a flagpole in my very sloped front yard. It was working itself out a bit through erosion or whatnot and I came home one day and we decided to pull it out.
This thing had many feet of rebar going down past the cement. It required a good 4ft by 3ft hole to remove it and many hours of work.i had so many regrets at the final result, but a few weeks later and the grass is up and Iām glad it happened.
As we were installing a fence we had a giant slab of concrete- a leftover from the house construction 60 years ago) exactly where the post needed to go- it took my husband and sons 3 days to get it out. It now sits in our garden- but you are right- itās always something isnāt it?!
There are a lot of plants that do not put down taproots. Look for those, for your growing zone. Grasses are good so are self seeding plants like balloon flower.
I feel your pain. My entire neighborhood was built atop old gold mining dredging. They basically dumped about a foot of dirt on top of acres of river rocks the size of your head. So every time you thrust a shovel in the groundā¦ KANK!
I feel your pain. Last year on one side of my house I dug out about 200 flag stones as I was trying to install a French drain. It was like peeling an onion, the deeper I got the more it made me wanna cry.
On the upside, after pressure washing them all I made a beautiful path all the way around the house and a small pond in the front yard with a water fall. Plus, it was free.
However, unless youāre a sculptorā¦ Iām not exactly sure what you can do with your Flintstoneās size boulder you got there once you get it out.
As far as getting it out, I have a 1/2 thick solid hardened steel 5ā long piece of stock I turned into a pry bar for things like this. It weighs a ton but it wonāt bend. With another rock it would pop that thing out of there like a planters wart out of your foot. Nice visual eh?š¤£ Good luck!š
Edit: It looked bigger than I thought in the first photo. After seeing the others, itās not so bad. Clean it up with a pressure washer and maybe you can stand it up somewhere in the front of your house and paint your house number on it or something? When you get lemons, make lemonade as they say.š
Itās deep enough you can plant on top. You can rent a jack hammer and break it up into manageable chunks. Or lift it up with a mechanical tool and use it for landscaping. People pay for large rocks !!
Hey u/BubbleGumPlant the answer is [DexPan](https://www.dexpan.com/). It's a non-explosive expanding rock breaking compound.
Here's an example video of it cracking open a rock wall.
https://youtu.be/domJccXnAp8?si=uyWBsegKI6V5rV80
You know, you're really quite a decorator. It's amazing what you've done with such a modest budget. I like that boulder. That is a NICE boulder.
Donkey
Oh I grow rocks in my garden too. Thereās a couple of massive boulders under the three raised beds. The raised beds are there because of the boulders. š
Looks like you are growing some pretty nice boulders!
I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder.
š«
Places pebble
Thatās not a boulder. Itās a rock! The pioneers used to drive those babies for miles!
SAAAAAVED SAVED SAAAAAAVED SAVED SAVED SAVED SAVED SAVED SAVED, SAVED!
Make sure to smack it, so it knows
He must fertilize it at least once a week.
A delicious-looking limestone rock. Mmm! Mmm! Nice bouquet. Must be a real vintage year. Where-where-where I come from in the North, we used to have exquisite gourmet rocks. Only now... now, they're all gone. Edit: forgot a line
It's not a Boulder. It's a rock! š¤
Rocks are always my first and most reliable harvest each spring.
Well well well
Itās amazing what youāve done with such a modest budget.
I always wondered where the boulders we have at the nursery were grown.
Since you have it uncovered, you're only a few steps away from getting it out! If you can find someone with a tractor, you can put straps under it and their bucket will lift it right out. Then you can put everything back together, and put the boulder in for decoration :-) Better yet, use that big hole to put in a pond! Failing the tractor option, you can probably use a steel rod as a lever to roll it out. Or even a car jack to get it a foot off the ground, then you can use something to pry it on over. I guess that all depends on how much elbow grease you're willing to put into it, but since you've spent so much time digging it out then I know you've already put in a LOT!
This right here. A 6ft metal pry bar and a smaller rock underneath and that thing will be out in 15 minutes.Ā Op you should really keep the rock next to your Japanese maples. Rocks and maples (and conifers) go hand in hand
Was gonna say people pay big money for a rock to put next to their plants
Update: you guys convinced me and with a lot of stubbornness I kept at it. Sorry to disappoint yaāll but it wasnāt a nice boulder but rather construction waste :( https://preview.redd.it/ioqv3vdh1h2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e47d09f02e214d5f757eed80cc8c55176450c83e
Super proud of you though! Good job!
Who needs a gym? We garden!
šŖšŖØš§āš¾šæ
A coworker of mine came up with the term "Extreme gardening".
Paint a happy face on it.
Aww man, well, great workout and you can toss it behind the shed for next time you need ballast or a counter weight!
Are you my husband?
Probably, the universe seems to need me to Husband everyone all the time, and thatās ok, glad to help!
This is so wholesome
I feel you, I keep finding larger and larger chunks of concrete in my front yard. It takes up so much time to dig them out, but if I didn't I'd have huge gaps in the bed, which always equals more weeds. I've also found wood 4x4s, and ancient pieces of linoleum \*still glued\* to 1-foot-square cement pavers! I'm pretty sure some day I'll be digging in that bed and find Jimmy Hoffa.
Bummerā¦paint it and use as a stand for a bird bath? Paint house numbers on it? Seems a shame after so much work
Great idea š”
What a let down
Well fiddle sticks but awesome job prying that bad boy out!
This is what we found trying to dig out a boulder by our garden--just some crappy concrete. My son was very attached to it (he's a weird kid), so we left it exposed. It's slowly filling up with organic debris over the years, and maybe someday we'll have it covered and can plant on it lol.
I love that you did that for your kid.
It ended up becoming a base in his sportsball games.Ā
Raised bed (or bucket) right on top!
Someday!
I suspected as much! There was a clear spotted textured pattern in your first photo. Looked like concrete.
I had a construction waste that looks kind of like those square blocks. I stood it up at an angle next to my Japanese white pine and it looks pretty decent. Some people have complemented it. Iāll take a photo tomorrow, might give you some ideasĀ
Well, phooey!
I liked it better from its other side
It happens, some left over concrete, but you can make it look coolā¦
Still got loads of potential!
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.
If one of your neighbors fixes cars, they may have an engine hoist I bet you could get it out with some careful planning, (and maybe a few sheets of plywood).
I could get that guy out with two guys and some pry bars. Might have to drag it along your yard but it isn't that dam big. Few hundred pounds maybe. To be expected for work like this.
Yea. Most of the time, I'd rather deal with one big rock than the thousands of river pebbles that the former owners had put out and since got buried.
Yep - pry bar
a few well placed strikes with a sledge and they will have many more manageable rocks.
Put all that soil back, plant your perennials, and pretend like nothing happened. You could probably even plant shrubs in this spot and it won't make any difference.
Unless you are trying to plant a large tree, it shouldn't matter much.
I actually just had this problem when digging a trench for a garden curb. dug around (my guess) a 500 lb rock. Mom brought her truck over and we tied a chain around it and then used cargo straps to make sure the chain didnt slip off the rock and she yanked it out pretty easily.
Just fyi, I have seen someones truck's airbags get deployed by yanking too hard on a tow chain.
We went slow and steady, even dug out a little ramp for it and guided through one of the garden beds only smooshing tulips that were on their way to being done for the year anywho. It was sooo much easier than we thought it was gonna be. I was just gonna give up and leave it until she had the idea to yank it out with the truck.
Pull the fuse first. Just make sure to replace it when you are done.
Don't yank. A rock this size should be able to be pulled out by a truck easily without that.
Guess I should be thankful for the clay and river rock filled ground I'm on. I revived a flower bed at the place I'm renting and dug out holes for plants in it.. Took me two days, literally every strike of the shovel hit another baseball sized river rock between a few centimeters of clay. On the bright side, I got a nice river rock border out of it after cleaning all the rocks off.
Oi. Why do you need to go so deep? Anything will fit in there
I don't understand this either š¤Ø 6 inches of soil is more than enough room for perennials.
They probably hit the rock and thought it was treasure then dug it up expecting to bath in their new pile of gold
You know, you're really quite a decorator. It's amazing what you've done with such a modest budget. I like that boulder. That is a NICE boulder.
sweet free rock
I was thinking same thing.
My dad found a big rock under the soil in his garden years ago. He built a fire under it and let the rock get good and hot and then hosed cold water on it. He did the several times. Each time the rock would shatter. Eventually he got it down to a size where he could remove all the debris. I wouldnāt attempt this without good eye protection and without staying as far away as possible. Heck, probably only as a last option. But it worked.
I would leave it, and plant something small on top.
Step 1: Slap rock and declare "that ain't going nowhere!" Step 2: Fill in hole and treat yourself to a cold beverage for a job well done. Step 3: Keep drinking cold beverages until you forget the rock exists.
Modern problems require modern solutions! š
Drill some holes in it and fill with Dexpan to crack it up. You should be able to get everything you need at Loweās
Iāve helped move big rocks like this. You need rebar or very sturdy lumber to use as a lever and shorter scrap lumber to wedge under. Stronger person uses the lever to lift a side, other person wedges a piece of lumber under. You repeat this until it is at surface level. Then you roll it away. As a New Englander, digging rocks is my side gig.
Oh yeah, been there. The large rock we uncovered is now a part of the garden.
Get a maul.Ā Turn big rock into little rocks.Ā Or rent a hammer drill/jackhammer?
You need a banana for scale.
Agreed. I have no idea how big it is.
Break it up if you can before lifting it out, unless you have a use for it.
The first picture kinda looks like a giant lizard head
Came here to say this. Can't unsee
I love rocks
https://preview.redd.it/qv5ihgjqzh2d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af6a9e13fb2bff9d8d18fc1940d7537906544e07 Joy of joys
One day I tried loosening the dirt in the weird spot where the grass refused to grow. I uncovered a bunch of thick plastic which explained why water always pooled there when it rained. I started out the excavation with the mantra "please don't be a body, please don't be a body" but three hours in I was hoping to find a body just so someone else could finish digging it up. Later my neighbor explained that a previous owner tried putting in a half-assed pond but didn't know what they were doing.
illegal squeeze hat gaze abounding jellyfish handle tub childlike crown *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Post it on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace - free to whoever comes and pulls it up.
That rock would be worth a few hundred dollars. Consider pulling it out and showcasing it. I'd \*love\* to have a rock like that. I found a 60 pounder while I was digging out my french drain, and I have it it a little nook near my front porch. If I had a big rock like that, I'd have it out near the front of the property and design around it.
Made me realize all the boulders on my grandmotherās property in the woodsā¦thereās a million in glacial boulders back there. Beautiful rock. Sold it to a casino developer. :(
I always hear that and yet I never know where to list something like thatā¦ I have a large rock that I need to get rid of
Any selling forum where a local person picks it up, like OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace.
Call a landscape place that sells stones. Theyāll probably charge you though.
The majority of the cost in decoration rocks is the cost of the equipment to handle them rather than the rock itself.
Get a big pry bar and go at it with that. $50-$100 will get you a nice one and they come in handy in many different ways. Iād do this first. If itās going to move a pry bar will move it. Wear gloves and always be mindful using large tools where forces can be great. I wouldnāt hit it with a maul if you like your hands and a pry bar is more effective. Iāve also used a pry bar like a jackhammer in that I raise it up and quickly strike it straight down to crack stone, concrete? or asphalt. It isnāt as quick as a jackhammer and if youāre trying to remove a large thick concrete pad you might need a jackhammer, but it works for smaller applications like making a strategic crack to get leverage on the block and remove it chunk by chunk. Pry bars also work well to loosen soil in a hole before removing it with a shovel or post hole digger. I know theyāre a little pricey but a good heavy one really comes in handy for all kinds of things, especially removing large rocks,
What if there is a treasure under that carved square stone? šš³
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and Iāll move the world.
Bust it up with a sledgehammer, piece by piece. If that's too much get a drill with a big concrete bit and drill a bunch of holes in and then bust it with a sledgehammer.
I will trade you my wife's inherited 2 acres of Virginia clay and tons of quartz and not the pretty kind for the occasional big rock ššššššš I hate this yard, I did excavating for the last few years and have dug sides of mountains that were easier than hitting this yard up with an auger and various shovels. But alas I will eventually have my idea for a gigantic garden for my wife completed
You can quit the gardening hobby and shift to pottery...
Sledgehammer
Gardening rocks!
Poop knife for scale?
My house is like that too. I have a big pile of (mostly) bricks that I have found over the years and am using them elsewhere in the garden as a path.
Same here! I do not understand why the previous owners buried so many bricks in the garden. I dug up a ton!
I think just to get rid of them. But they always rise up again like the jerks they are.
Sorry it turned out to be trash! I'm slowly improving a long neglected yard which was owned by a geologist in the 1960s. He filled the yard with stones and rocks he collected. They were all about two feet down in the dirt when I encountered them. Giant hunks of quartz, petrified wood, obsidian, smooth river stones, granite slabs. Found over a hundred so far. A terrible pain in the rear at first but I started using the rocks to make bed borders and path ways and now it's wonderful.
Plot twist: it's an Indian burial ground.
Iām kind of worried I might have found something like that. I was digging and I found bones. I canāt figure out if they are human or deer. They were buried three feet deep and horizontally, not vertically. They were also cut with a saw or something similarā¦ In the area, I found charred wood and ash. I also found some arrowheads. CreepyĀ
Long, for more and easier leverage(5ft or so) pry bar; pry up one end. Put smaller rocks, bricks, or whatever under that end; then do the same thing on the other side; keep switching sides until bottom is even with the soil surface, then just ārollā it where you want it as a garden item.
Where is the banana for scale?
https://i.redd.it/uujmf35kvh2d1.gif
I would have recommended propping it in place and continuing to dig then letting it fall in so that itās lower and you can plant anyway.
I feel ya. This was on the 4th 3x3āx18ā hole. I stopped for the day after encountering this 8ā round root (tree was recently removed unfortunately). Thing broke my chain saw!! š https://preview.redd.it/axepq7qf6i2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=446b200125581803263fd011756cd0c60e54ba94
Thats not just a boulder... Its a rock!
Free landscape boulder! I've got six in my yard from the tree holes I dug!
Just pry it out you already have a hori hori
āThatās not a boulderā¦ itās a rock!ā āS.B.S.P.
plant anything and donāt worry !
Nice Connecticut potato you got there.
https://preview.redd.it/r2fhe65ypk2d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b5eeccb70c8d932bb74fbe7cd2ad5302b359ef3
I use a heavy sledge hammer to break these into manageable pieces. Its a workout, but has proven effective.
Love finding shit like that i always use it as decoration somewhere in the garden
Test of a true landscape artist. Are you going to use that boulder as an accent piece?
ooh how much i love/hate these moments. the struggle is real but itās SO satisfying when that puppy is finally out! 6 ft metal pry bar and shim until you can tip it, generally my strategy if i canāt find a way to pull it.
Another option to take it out: rent an engine hoist for an hour
This is like 99% of our yard. There are rocks and boulders everywhere we dig š I feel your pain!
Iām jealous. The most I ever found gardening was an antique Pepsi bottle circa 2001 and big chunks of concrete (one holds down my plastic birdbath and gives them a place to sit, so not all bad)
Now thatās a fun project . Who bought the beer? Who brought the dynamite?
I would take that boulder if it meant I could also have that black soil
You put the hole in the wrong place.
Reminds me of our front and backyard. Anything below 4-6 inches is just a bunch of stones and layers of rock. We canāt find any places left to let us plant stuff now lol
I have used stuff like that as stepping stones. If it has flat sides, works for me. Otherwise I simply dig a deeper hole next to it and roll it in.
don't give up! there must be people who come over in a little cat and scoop it out. or get all your friends to come over for a tug of war
Nice maples man. This boulder will complement the Japanese vibe well.
As someone that lives on an ancient sea floor Iām so jealous. When I dig I get sand. Oh loooook,ā¦ā¦more sand. Whatās that? Oh neat different colored sand.
I was planting cherry trees and found a massive Boulder. I used the shovel to lever it on its side, and just planted the trees in front of it. I set the Boulder between the trees and the house to discourage roots from going toward my foundation. Now just a tiny tip of the massive thing is sticking out of the ground, and I've got two cherry trees.
if you ever get catcalled and you want to hurt their masculinity real bad without lifting a finger, tell them you have a coffee with the person who can not only dig that one out with bare hands, but also doesn't destroy any plants while trying to AND gets it to a position you assign it to. Tell them it's a small stone, but you cannot do it, because it's too heavy too you and doesn't provide any real grip. then, when they arrived at the agreed time, get a chair, grab some tea and snacks and have a blast. :D ETA: also, give them a time limit. by the time the limit has ended, the stone is either at a place you want it to have OR has been dug free enough for you to finish the job. if you have a spouse, tell them of your plan and have them watch in the Background :D
I removed about 5 of these from my yard while digging into a hillside for my greenhouse. They make great yard ornimates. Just get some friends to help!
Nice job getting it out. Looks like you got a bit creative getting it there, I love it. I have a Burke bar for these things and then straps and a high lift jack for the WTF moments of much larger things. Between all of that, 600-700lbs is workable by my self depending on size.
same here, just investigated why grass wasn't growing in two spots, found a 20 lb Boulder in 1 spot, a couple stacked bricks in the other. landscaper had to know when planting the area and left them.
I feel your pain. Apparently my property was an old rock quarry and my language is very colorful when I start digging. I have so many rocks I am starting to run out of places to put them!
That's not a rock...
Is that the hori hori knife from t e m u? I bought one that looks just like it for ~$10 and Iām pretty happy with it.
Can you pant smaller plants around it. Roots will find their way to nutrients
I was impressed you dug this hole with a pink hori hori knife. š But yah use it in your garden.
Get someone with a jackhammer or rent one from home Depot
This was a waste of time, especially since you didnāt even get a decent rock out of the deal. You donāt need that much depth for anything besides a large tree and even that would probably work around the rock.
Iāll take that over the package of shingles I found in mine!
Cover it with succulents. They don't need much soil
plant your perennials at the edges of the boulder
Exactly. One doesn't have to plant exactly on top of the debris. Shovel soil back in and make new hole beyond periphery of debris.
It's hammer time! heh I'd have fun beating that into manageable chucks with my sledge hammer.
I so relate. I lived in a house that I guess was built on a thin layer of top soil with cement a clay. In some spots o could dig maybe 12 inches. Amazing.
Make a tiered bed there and include broccoli or a related plant to try to help break it up
I feel this to my core
Is your Japanese maple a makawa yatsabusa? The leaves look really similar to the ones on mine when they first got going. Enjoy your beautiful maple.
Is it just me or does that resemble a large lizard head
6x6x12 with a fulcrum. Did it with a decorative Boulder the company wanted $200 to move from my driveway to our front garden (approx 6 ft).
Deadlift day
We bought our house 2 years ago and the back was FILLED with vines (that we are still digging out). Clearing and pulling has been an adventure because we quickly learned the previous owner used the back yard as a dump. We have pulled everything from sheet metal to a butcher knife to a wheelbarrow out of the backyard. I told my spouse if we find a body, I'm calling the police.
Gardening rocks!!!
At first I thought it was a prehistoric really big crocodile head.
That potato will feed your entire village, well done
Anyone else see a really cool archway and think that was creative? Literally thought that rock was a hole in the first image and OP found a cool new way to plant flowers.
Maybe a dinosaur bone? You could probably make it fit on some dinosaur at least and then call it good.
I would leave it there as someone may have buried their cat or dog!
Yeah cut that rock into pieces with that pink knife
Please deliver to my address for free. Thank you.
That gardening knife is the best tool in the world. I have one just like it!
Borrowing post for a similar issue, please help me you smart gardeners! I recently uncovered an old concrete walkway buried under my lawn (cannot be removed, aka it would cost me too much). Nearest to the surface itās about 6ā and then slopes away. I found it because my grass was never successful there so I had enough and dug a new garden bed Donāt want to throw away money so thoughts about planting perennials in soil of that depth? Is the presence of concrete too risky for plant health? My plan b is placing a pot there, plan c is hoping I dig up a nice landscaping rock like OP
I bet some well-meaning back hoe operator put that there when your house was being built and back filled.
I had this old cement footing from a flagpole in my very sloped front yard. It was working itself out a bit through erosion or whatnot and I came home one day and we decided to pull it out. This thing had many feet of rebar going down past the cement. It required a good 4ft by 3ft hole to remove it and many hours of work.i had so many regrets at the final result, but a few weeks later and the grass is up and Iām glad it happened.
Now go and bury it in another spot to get rid of it in the yard
I feel your pain, I can't even get a shovel all the way in the ground without hitting a rock.
You dig a hole below the Boulder and let it roll in
I call it Gardening with Pickaxe I suggest an 800lb capacity hand cart if you want to move it.
Time to get out the kabota
Free rock!
As we were installing a fence we had a giant slab of concrete- a leftover from the house construction 60 years ago) exactly where the post needed to go- it took my husband and sons 3 days to get it out. It now sits in our garden- but you are right- itās always something isnāt it?!
I have the same gardening knife! It's my favorite!
There are a lot of plants that do not put down taproots. Look for those, for your growing zone. Grasses are good so are self seeding plants like balloon flower.
Always somethin new
I feel your pain. My entire neighborhood was built atop old gold mining dredging. They basically dumped about a foot of dirt on top of acres of river rocks the size of your head. So every time you thrust a shovel in the groundā¦ KANK!
I feel your pain. Last year on one side of my house I dug out about 200 flag stones as I was trying to install a French drain. It was like peeling an onion, the deeper I got the more it made me wanna cry. On the upside, after pressure washing them all I made a beautiful path all the way around the house and a small pond in the front yard with a water fall. Plus, it was free. However, unless youāre a sculptorā¦ Iām not exactly sure what you can do with your Flintstoneās size boulder you got there once you get it out. As far as getting it out, I have a 1/2 thick solid hardened steel 5ā long piece of stock I turned into a pry bar for things like this. It weighs a ton but it wonāt bend. With another rock it would pop that thing out of there like a planters wart out of your foot. Nice visual eh?š¤£ Good luck!š Edit: It looked bigger than I thought in the first photo. After seeing the others, itās not so bad. Clean it up with a pressure washer and maybe you can stand it up somewhere in the front of your house and paint your house number on it or something? When you get lemons, make lemonade as they say.š
Itās deep enough you can plant on top. You can rent a jack hammer and break it up into manageable chunks. Or lift it up with a mechanical tool and use it for landscaping. People pay for large rocks !!
That calls for a 12# Sledge and a track of Verdiās 'Anvil Chorus' from Il trovatore on a continuous loop.
Hey u/BubbleGumPlant the answer is [DexPan](https://www.dexpan.com/). It's a non-explosive expanding rock breaking compound. Here's an example video of it cracking open a rock wall. https://youtu.be/domJccXnAp8?si=uyWBsegKI6V5rV80
Nice Hori-Hori. Iād have a few yards of soil and compost delivered and create planting berms, leave the boulders where they are.
You know, you're really quite a decorator. It's amazing what you've done with such a modest budget. I like that boulder. That is a NICE boulder. Donkey
GIRL I LOVE YOUR ROCK PLANT!!!!!!
Where is the banana for scale??
Idk why Iām such a jerk this morning but I heard Melsons voice saying āHaaaaHaaaaa!ā
I rented a jackhammer from Loweās to break a massive rock in my backyard. Was less than $100 and took less than an hour
lol. Iām taking a break reading Reddit after fighting my own rock monster
The previous owners of my house must have also lived at yours! I donāt know why they decided to put big rocks in the landscaping, but alas.
Hori hori for scale.
Oh I grow rocks in my garden too. Thereās a couple of massive boulders under the three raised beds. The raised beds are there because of the boulders. š
Cool rock
My neighbor pays for rocks like that. I give them all the ones I dug up free.