Narrow concrete trench
by John
(San Francisco)
How can I dig clay out of a narrow trench?
There seems to be really hard clay & old roots in a narrow concrete trench about 16' long & 10" wide. Can't seem to get it out of there with a shovel. want to plant some bamboo for privacy between homes in the city.
Thanks,
John
Doug says - use an adze to chew up the roots and heavy clay into bits and pieces. The cutting head will chew up the heavy clay and roots and then you can easily shovel it out with a normal shovel. A bit of a tough job for sure.
The only thing I want to point out with this plan is that if roots are in the trench now - make sure they didn't get there from the outside or penetrate through the concrete towards the outside. Once you put bamboo into this trench, it will escape through the smallest crack (making that crack bigger) and you'll have a plant invasion. And controlling or eliminating this plant will make a few roots look like child's play.
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