I dug a hole.
7d 21h ago by lemmy.zip/u/PancakeEpiphany in dull_mens_club from lemmy.zip
It is about 60 centimeters deep. The spade was less useful than the small pickaxe-thingy, which I used to loosen the ground. I intend to plant a tree in the hole. That is all.
Actually dull content (and satisfyingly so) 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Agreed. Top comment nominee.
I don't know, that shovel looks like it might be pretty sharp.
Dang man, at least tag nsfw if you're going to be sharing pics of your hole
What kind of tree?
A robinia that has been sitting in a pot for a while now and is ready, I hope.
You check that hole for drainage and size? I planted a tree in super hard soil into a hole that wasn't much bigger than the pot, and it turned into a little pool every time it rained because the compacted soil around it wouldn't allow water (or roots) out of the 'in ground pot' I accidentally made for the tree, and it drowned.
Drainage and size have indeed been cause for some concern, if not a slight headache. (Thinking ahead, I worry that "I drowned a tree" might not be acceptably dull content for this community.)
However, the last hole I dug for another tree not too far away from this present hole turned out fine, so I hope the ground is okay. As suggested elsewhere, I'm also filling the hole with new, extra dirt.
First off most of the guides you find online or even from nurseries show the wrong way to transplant shrubs and trees.
Filling the hole with new dirt is pretty much the worst thing you can do. Water and roots follow the path of least resistance.
When you have soil with higher porosity surrounded by soil with lower porosity, water collects the higher porosity soil. It has more room for water and collects it from the surrounding area. This often leads to drowning the plant or root rots forming.
The roots also are not going to push through the harder more compact soil when nice soft porous soil is available. So they circle around the hole you dug. You end up with rootbound plants long term.
You functionally create a pot in the dirt when you add in the "better" soil that you purchased.
The best way to transplant into the ground.
Bare root or minimal soil is recommended for the plant. You really don't want to be adding too much around it.
Refill the hole with the dirt that came out of it. Pack the dirt as you fill it to match the surrounding soils compaction level. Don't be shy, make it good and firm.
If you want to fertilize at transplanting add a very small amount around the top of the hole when filling it up, not at the bottom of the hole. You want the nutrients to leach down to the roots with water. If you want to add in more fertilizer/compost. Dig some small shallow holes 5-10cm from the outside edge of you hole and add in fertilizer. This will reward roots that break through the edge of the hole encouraging them to grow further.
To add, dont plant the tree with the root base below ground level otherwise water rolls towards the tree and its get drowned. Im not a tree expert but the nursery told me this when i bought some and i googled images/diagrams of how high to plant the root ball relative to the surrounding ground.
And mulch afterwards.
Thanks!
Thank you!
For same season i've heard that square hole is better than round, so that the roots don't keep growing around in cricles but get stuck in a corner and might be able to escape. No idea if the this actually true but seems reasonable
Another myth. It sounds reasonable unless you know how roots grow.
It's not the shape of the hole that matters. It's how much effort it takes for the root to grow and the reward it gets for doing so.
So if you add in softer, easier to grow soil, high in nutrients the roots will stay in it until the nutrients are depleted. Only when the nutrients are depleted will the plant even attempt to grow out of the soft new soil into the harder surrounding soil. This can often be several months or even years later.
Quality hole. Dirt is definitely gone. Goes straight down into the ground. All signs of top quality. Good job.
i once dug a hole in my (parent's) back yard to search for water.
well i didn't find water but i found a girlfriend. (no joke)
dang that sounds so unhinged once i type it out loud.
here's the explanation
Well the back yard wasn't really fenced in and neighbors could easily walk in and through as a shortcut to the bus stop, and in fact they did all the time. Anyways i dug the hole and a girl from the neighborhood saw me do that and came to walk by and ask me what the hell i was doing there. i was telling her that i was digging for water, and well, the rest is a secret.
"Well I don't have any water, but you've found wetness"
Everything reminds me of her 😞
All of them do.
It's a hole new world.
I've got a hole lotta love for it
I should call her.
Call 811 before you dig!
EDIT: Remembered the wrong number.
This is deep.
I should call her.
Holesome!
It was made for me! This is my hole!
Terrifying shit. Just the comment freaked me out.
Drrrrr drrr
Nice hole
Sweet hole
10/10 hole right there
Sure it isn't 7/5?
Only with rice.
Me too!
However mine is unfinished :(
Yep, that's a hole. Definitely got that doggy's seal of approval, too. What's it going to be when it's finished?
An adult dog.
Actually I think that's a Squole
Going to pave the area, lots of prep to do first. Compacting and leveling and probably a domestic or three in between.
We have 3 pallets of bricks that have been in the way for too long.
Yeah, prep is everything when you're laying pavers. Lots of layers and steps to do it right. But the plan sounds fantastic, turning it into something nice to look at that you can actually use. Good luck, hope it's everything you are envisioning.
Is your name Dale?
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/g1Rzn7jk0vc
Nice hole Man. Pretty round. Before you plant under cut sone of the hole so the roots have some more loose soil.
What are you doing?
Digging.
Why?
Make a hole.
A hole for what?
More digging.
Yep, that's a hole
Spades are not meant for digging, they're for edging and moving stuff. A shovel has a pointier head, which cuts into compacted soil easier. It's the kind that actually looks like a spade, but for some reason isn't. You can stick it in the ground, and push it down with your foot.
Have you considered digging another one next to it?
Bro, that's a fucking hole you dug right there. Look at that...
Diggy diggy hole!
When I dig a hole the dirt is usually right next to it. This hole feels surreal like its a hole to stay a hole. Where's the dirt?
I learned from the last hole I dug a few years ago and shovelled the dirt right on a cart. I used it to fill a sloping flower bed.
Advanced hole digging.
Then what's going in with the tree? Buying separate dirt?
I... yes. Yes, I will use my money to buy new, better dirt to replace the available dirt I painstakingly dug up and carted away to a slightly different place.
It's better to backfill with the soil you dug out. If you fill in with different soil then it could make the hole you dug into a hard boundary that roots won't try to grow through.
"......well dangit! I coulda just reused my dirt!!! Now I gotta go to Lowes, and buy premium dirt!!!! Dangit!"
What inspired you?
The Mrs, in the parlance of this sub.
Nice
Woah there buddy, do you have the right permits for an excavation like that?
: wanders over to stand next to the hole, beer in hand:
Ayup. Think in this county you need to file permission with the council for any hole over 30 cm deep.
: sips beer as an eldritch tentacle starts to crawl out of hole:
Magnificent hole tbh.
well done, good hole!
I have a pick axe, technically a mattock that I use in my yard. It's all clay and gravel. It's fun to swing.
Did you dig another hole to put all the material from this hole into?
Good hole.
Get that tree in there deep.
MmmmHrmmm
Now take it back it out and do it again!
I know the quote and vaguely picture it being about washing a truck/tire but have no idea what movie it's from.
This is a neat hole. Well dug.
A hollova hole you got there
Straight to the pool room!
what do you know about lead?
I also dug a hole last year and moved a small tree into it. So, two holes in a way. Still looks like a tree but we'll see how it does in the summer.
I don't see a spade shovel...
I'm proud of you, son
connecting you to hundreds of millennia of your fellow men. satisfyingly primal :-)
A bean hole?
Did you call before you dug?
First make it a bean hole and cook some chili in it
You've got a bit more to go to catch up with Mel!
Dig a hole. Fill it up.
Yep, that there sure is a hole.
Cool hole
Cool use for a whole
What's not to like?
Ooo la la
Rad.
"Let's dig a hole at the bottom of the..."
You makin beans?
My housing development is built on fill dirt; I was trying to plant a rose bush and getting nowhere with just a shovel. What I really needed was a pickaxe like we used in college when we were excavating a rock shelter for Archaeology 401. Bought one at the hardware store and went to town. 🥀
Shoveling and scooping, particularly sands and gravels that tend to roll off a rounded tip. Also edge work and leveling.