Rocks can be found anywhere around your garden. Most people pick and use it to surround and beautify their homes. Some even use it to create a pathway and focal point. Generally, you can do many things from rocks and use them for your landscape.
However, most rocks may look unsightly since they have a different size and shape, which you do not want in your yard or garden. Rocks can also pose a problem if you are using a lawnmower and then are thrown away to someone or to you, which can hurt easily. So, the best way is to get rid of them. However, you might be wondering about how to remove rocks from the yard effectively. To remove them from your landscape, you need a few tools for this to make your job easier.
Table of Contents
Tools For Removing Rocks From Your Yard
No. | Image | Tool Name | When To Use | How To Use |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Landscape Rake | Use to remove rocks and other materials on soil | Using this tool is very simple, just like the way you gather the leaves, you can also do it to gather the rocks and create a pile of it. | |
2 | Shovel Scoop | A Useful tool for moving rocks | This tool is very effective for dealing with small-sized rocks. Generally, you can use it to scoop and move the rocks away. It can also use for digging some medium-sized rubble. | |
3 | Wheelbarrow | Use this to move rocks and stones | Big and medium-sized rocks can be a nuisance due to their weight, but using this will make your job easier. You can simply put stones or rocks on it so you can bring it out of your yard with a little effort. Using your shovel is an effective way of moving rocks into the wheelbarrow. |
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4 | Digging Bar | Use this to remove some medium-sized rubble and rocks | In order to use this, you simply need to put it under the edge of the rocks while maneuvering it. You need to use a bit of your force to lift the rocks from the ground. | |
5 | Trowel | Use it to out rocks and soil | This tool is useful for digging out rocks that partially dipped from the soil. It is also good for removing out some small-sized rocks in a tight and narrow place. | |
6 | Pick | Use it for breaking large-sized rocks | Some rocks were too big, which makes it heavy and hard to move. This tool will help you to break it piece by piece. On some occasions, it is better to do this instead of pushing the whole boulder. | |
7 | Rototiller | A handy tool for finding rocks inside the soil | In order to use this, simply use a bit of your force and push it over the area where you want to remove the stones. Every time you find it, stop and pick it up. | |
8 | Backhoe Attachment | Use this attachment for your backhoe if your landscape has a large, and massive boulders | This tool is an attachment for your backhoe that will allow you to lift vast and heavy rocks. Use this to remove the boulders, which are impossible to remove using your bare hands. | |
9 | Box Blade | Use this if your landscape has a lot of small rocks | It is an attachment for a tractor that you can use for bringing up the rocks to the surface by loosening the soil. | |
10 | Rock Screening Bucket | Use it to filter the stones from the soil | This attachment for the front loader works best if there’s a lot of rocks mixed in the ground. You can filter a medium to large-sized rocks out of the soil. |
Easy Ways To Remove Rocks From Yard Or Landscape
Removing rocks from the yard can be done easily or hard. The difficulty differs from place to place. To be effective, you must use the right way of removing it by knowing the amount and types of rocks you have. You must use the method which you think more suitable for you.
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Use A Hand Tools Or Equipment
The first approach that you must try is using simple hand equipment that is already available in your house. You can use a tool such as a shovel for digging out the smallest to medium-sized rocks in your landscape.
Rake is also a piece of essential equipment that you can use for moving and spreading the gravel evenly from one part to another. However, this tool will likely miss most of the small rocks.
Know Which Type of Gravel You Have
To make the process much easier, you must know which types of gravel you have in your landscape. Screened gravel and pea gravel are the most common ones that you can find around your yard.
The screened gravel size could be around 1 centimeter wide, while the pea gravel is a bit larger, which is usually about 2 centimeters. Most people were using it for creating a custom pavement or a ground cover for their garden.
Some types of gravel do not pack down quickly, one them is the screen gravel. So, using a rake for it is a suitable tool for this job.
Check Your Yard For Existing Landscape Fabric
There are some cases that former homeowners before you have used a geotextile cloth or a landscape fabric under the gravels to prevent the growth of weeds. If you encounter this, your best option is to use your hands or machine to remove rocks from the yard.
You can also use the hand tools and equipment such as wheelbarrow and shovel that we mentioned above. Simply use your shovel to scoop the rocks then put it on the wheelbarrow. You can also lift the landscape fabric to remove most of the gravel.
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Managing The Compactible Gravel
Compactible gravel can be hard to take out without using proper tools for it. If you want to remove it by hand, you can use equipment such as pick and shovel. But keep in mind that this is only effective for a small area of rocks. The manual method of removing this type of gravel can be exhausting and consume most of your time.
In case you are going to deal with a big project, you need different equipment. A compact machine like the bobcat or a skid steer loader is suitable for this job.
You can ask then borrow these machines from your friends or neighbor if they happen to have it. If that option is not available, you can rent and pay per hour of these machines. When you have it, you can scoop that unwanted gravel and rocks; then, you can dump it into the bed of the truck that will carry out of your yard.
A packed down compactible gravel can be used for making a stable and firm surface that you can use as a path or driveway.
Transporting The Gravel Out Of Your Yard
If you are walking on the pathway that was made from gravel, some of these rocks will be kicked off and won’t stay in the path anymore. Refilling these gravels can be expensive, and if you hit it with a lawnmower, these rocks have a chance to become projectile, which can hurt or break windows. You can find the information below to get the necessary steps for removing the gravel out of your yard.
- The first step is using a bow rake. Rake as much as you can using the tine side. The rake’s backside is made from a straight metal that you can use to gather and creating piles of gravel.
- Secondly, use a shovel scoop to pick up the pile that you created using a rake. Use your hand to support and push the gravel onto the scoop.
- After that, you can use a broom or bristle to push the remaining leftover of your driveway.
- Lastly, use a vacuum cleaner. It is useful for sucking the remnants as much as possible. Start by vacuuming the edges of your path or driveway. Then slowly go to the other areas that you want to clean. But before you do this, check the vacuum and clean it to make sure that it can suck and remove the gravel and dirt properly.
How To Find And Remove Small-Sized Rocks From Your Yard?
- First, you need to use equipment like a rototiller, which will make this process easier. Start it and use a bit of your force to the ground. This will bring the small rocks into the surface, which you can pick up manually using your hand.
- Use the wheelbarrow to place all the rocks that you found.
- The next step is using a bow rake to move the soil and filter out some small-sized rocks. Use the rake to create a pile of rubble. When you’re finished gathering it, use the shovel scoop to get the rocks and transfer them into the wheelbarrow.
- Lastly, transfer the soil and rocks from the wheelbarrow to the hand screen. This will filter the soil and rocks. The process of hand screening is simple and easy. You can refer to the video below:
To Use A Machinery Or Not
The first time you use mechanical equipment such as bobcat can be overwhelming. It is recommended to seek professional advice or a lesson if you’ve never tried this before. You can also let someone do this for you.
Using this machine can be costly, which you need to consider. You may rent or just pay someone else to do the job for you. Nevertheless, this machine can be used to manage a complicated task that you cannot merely do by hand or would take hours to finish. On the other hand, using a machine can help you to save most of your time. Rocks such as gravel are hard to move due to its weight. However, after you remove the gravel with this, it will allow you to prepare the surface of your landscape.
Removing Large Boulders From Your Yard
- To loosen the boulder a bit, start by using a trowel or a shovel to dig the soil around the rock. Then, put the digging bar at the edge of the rock and use some force to lift it from the soil. After you lift it, you need to put support such as wood or branch under the digging bar so you can push the rock into the nearby place.
- Some rocks are too large and heavy to move around, in case you have this in your yard, you can use a drill and start creating holes into the rocks. After that, insert a tool such as a feather and wedges inside the holes then start hammering it. This way, the rocks will start to split into several pieces, which you can transfer in the wheelbarrow quickly.
Using Dexpan For Dealing A Large-Sized Rocks
In some cases, you need to deal with large-sized rocks in your landscape. This can be a problem since it’s too big to move around. Below, you can find the tips and information for getting this thing out of your yard.
- Get and use a shovel to dig the soil around the rock. Doing it will create a space that can help to make it easier to move the rock from the soil. Once you’re done with this, try to lift the rock and then transfer it to the wheelbarrow.
- In case the rock is huge and hard to lift, dig more to the side to make a slope. This will allows you to move and roll it out.
- Place a piece of wood under the rock to pry and move it out of its location.
- To make your life much easier when dealing with huge rocks, it is highly recommended to use Dexpan to break it. Using it is very simple; you just need to create holes into the rocks by using a drill, then mix and pour the Dexpan. You can check the most recommended product of Dexpan below, which is made from the USA.
Conclusion
The process of how to remove rocks from the yard may need a lot of labor. However, it is very simple and easy to understand. Generally, if your landscape has a lot of gravel, you can use a shovel or machine such as bobcat to lift and remove most of it. Some huge rocks can be lifted by using a simple method, as we mentioned above, or break it into several pieces. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to write us your comment!
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Kind of envious you have a nice space in your area. We have though but its small. Working something out in the backyard is therapeutic.
This is just what my dad was asking me about he other day. This is good as its detailed.
Wow, that’s a nice post. I needed these trips. I have a garden and sometimes removing rocks and gravels becomes quite a crazy job. Thanks a lot.
Thank God I don’t have that problem. But thank you for sharing these useful tips 🙂
Laura
This sounds like a great solution to my problem. Definitely what I needed to do later. Thanks for sharing very helpful tips.
Thanks for the tips..! This would be very useful in case that happens to my backyard.. ????
These are all great tools to help one remove rocks from yard. These can really help the yard look more presentable!
That is a cool hack! That is a struggle sometimes. Glad for this.
I’ve recently started a blog, the info you provide on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Thanks for this tremendous info. this is really helpful to many gardeners as we now know what to do to clear boulders out of the yard. it was so much challenging before buts thanks for coming through with this.