Method for improving drainage--Has anyone tried drilling
Greatest Prime
in the process of planting a tree, I found that the soil had good drainage
at a depth of about two feet.
Because this soii is either brick hard or extremely sticky mud, it is not
practical for me to till that deep. My back would just give out with or
without mechanical aids.
At the hardware store, I saw different kinds of drill bits. They include
augers, masonary drills, and regular twist drills. There also were some
drill extenders. With them, it would be possible to drill holes through the
hardpan allowing drainage. In addition, I would add gypsum to the soil in
the hope that the hardpan could be worn away in time.
Does anyone have experience with such a tecknique? What kinds of drill work
best? What have been the results?
Bill
Susan Dobbs
> At the hardware store, I saw different kinds of drill bits. They include
> augers, masonary drills, and regular twist drills. There also were some
> drill extenders. With them, it would be possible to drill holes through the
> hardpan allowing drainage. In addition, I would add gypsum to the soil in
> the hope that the hardpan could be worn away in time.
>
> Does anyone have experience with such a tecknique? What kinds of drill work
> best? What have been the results?
Bill, we broke through some pretty stiff stuff by renting a tool that looked
just like a jackhammer. It came with 2 attachments - a spade and a chisel.
Wasn't expensive to rent, either.
Susan in Northern CA
Zeuspaul
http://www.bradleysales.com/main.htm
It is 22 inches long and 2 5/8 inches in diameter. They have several to
choose from...I got the one with the flightings all the way up as I
thought it would be easier to use.
I drilled several holes around a tomato plant and then filled them with
manure. Of the 12 plants...this one is by far the greenest.
Next time I think I'll try boring some holes under the plant before I
drop it in the planting hole.
It drills quickly in my clayish soil...no rocks. I use a half inch
drive drill with plenty of power. I haven't tried it in rocky soil yet
but I doubt it would work. I plan on getting a one inch masonry bit 24
inches long for rock soil preliminary holes. Once I find a good spot I
will drill with the earth auger.
I have been looking for one man post hole augers. They look just like
post hole diggers but they only have one handle with a tee top. You
turn them to dig. I can't find them anywhere. I saw a few at Lowes but
when I went back to get one they were all gone...never to be seen
again. An Internet search only brings forth rental agencies with this
tool.
I have other plans for earth augers. I have tried rolling newspaper
with manure and placing it in the 22 inch deep holes...no results yet.
I may have to graduate to a larger machine as I can't find large enough
earth auger bits for a standard electric drill. The drill has enough
power to drive a larger bit....but you can't drill if you don't have a
bit.
Lowes has a one man unit for about $300 plus $90 for a four? inch heavy
duty bit that would get you down more than two feet.
Zeuspaul
Dana S. Millaway
you can put extensions on for when the ice is really thick. I haven't a
clue how much they cost as I don't ice-fish.
--
Dana (alias Compuhorsy)
Zone 4a in MN
Janet Fairchild & Tak Nakamoto
of our garden. While I took the time to dig out most of vegetable garden
area to a depth of 2 feet (but only about 80 sq ft), I've found that in our
flower garden area that the hard pan does not need to be dug out completely.
Digging a square foot hole every 5 feet or so appears to solve any drainage
problem we have as long as we also improve the porosity of the soil/clay
lying over the hard pan. This apparently allows the horizontal migration of
water through the soil to the holes in the hardpan. Over the 4+ years that
have passed since we dug these deep "wells" I've seen no evidence that they
refill. Of course I did fill the bottom of the deep holes with loose gravel
before re-covering with soil.
TN
Greatest Prime <Fish...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:B716F127.2C7B6%Fish...@mediaone.net...
duncan vincent
enough
> in the process of planting a tree, I found that the soil had good drainage
> at a depth of about two feet.
>
> Because this soii is either brick hard or extremely sticky mud, it is not
> practical for me to till that deep. My back would just give out with or
> without mechanical aids.
>
but it might help you out.
http://www.gardenweb.com/isolite/grogun.html
Carla Goodloe
starts on land. We are a civil engineering firm. My experience thus far with
soil boring logs has been that when you hit rock, the auger had to be
changed to a rock drill of a different sort. You can call a drilling company
in your area that drills for civil engineers and find out what they use for
hardpan. Here in AL we drill through a lot of clay and sand then hit
limestone and shale. I don't work out in the field so I don't know which
drills are used, but I do know that they have to change when they hit the
hard stuff. The augers in the store may be for rock, so would work in your
case.
Carla
"Greatest Prime" <Fish...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:B716F127.2C7B6%Fish...@mediaone.net...
Travis Anton
<dv...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I live in a region with adobe soil hardpan. Once, when I dug down far
> enough
> > in the process of planting a tree, I found that the soil had good
> > drainage
> > at a depth of about two feet.
> >
> > Because this soii is either brick hard or extremely sticky mud, it is
> > not
> > practical for me to till that deep. My back would just give out with or
> > without mechanical aids.
> >
> > At the hardware store, I saw different kinds of drill bits. They
> > include
> > augers, masonary drills, and regular twist drills. There also were some
> > drill extenders. With them, it would be possible to drill holes through
> the
> > hardpan allowing drainage. In addition, I would add gypsum to the soil
> > in
> > the hope that the hardpan could be worn away in time.
> >
> > Does anyone have experience with such a tecknique? What kinds of drill
> work
> > best? What have been the results?
> >
> > Bill
> >
>
Drilling small (anything less than about 3") holes I don't think will
help improve things much, unless you drill so many, you might as well
have dug and tilled that deep. The holes are going to silt up fast if
they're small, and the same almost impermeable clay in the hardpan is
going to do most of the silting.
If this is just a tree hole you're talking about, and there is a good
drainage later two or three feet down, digging a hole that deep isn't
impractical in most cases, or you could make a smaller hole with some
post hole diggers in the middle of the main hole that went deeper.
--
Travis Anton, BoxTop Software, Inc. - http://www.boxtopsoft.com
"BoxTop Software's ProJPEG plug-in consistently produces JPEG files
that are routinely 50% smaller than Photoshop" - Mac Art Design
BeeCrofter
Carla
work. I work for a civil engineering firm.
Ask the drillers what they suggest you do about it.
Carla
"Travis Anton" <tra...@boxtopsoft.com> wrote in message
news:travis-BE6FBD....@news.qwest.net...
duncan vincent
> <dv...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > I live in a region with adobe soil hardpan. Once, when I dug down far
> > enough
> > > in the process of planting a tree, I found that the soil had good
> > > drainage
> > > at a depth of about two feet.
> > >
> > > Because this soii is either brick hard or extremely sticky mud, it is
> > > not
I have never tried this but they claim it helps drain hard soils.
http://www.gardenweb.com/isolite/grogun.html