Northeast Gardening: Help with hardpan dirt, 0 by pirl

pirl wrote:
Seandor - I wouldn't chance either a jackhammer or changing the level of the soil by adding compost under the tree unless you're willing to lose the tree, per the advice of my radio gardening expert.

IF you can make it through the first few inches then keep on digging. Sometimes you'll hit roots and other times you'll find rocks.....or softer earth.

It was a pick axe my friend used on her plot of impossible ground. She did add truck loads of town mulch mixed with chips and does have a lovely garden there now but it was an unbelievable amount of work. It's the area with the gazebo in this photo.