I watched so many youtube videos with complicated and engineered sifters that would take days to design and build. Leave it to a woman to come up with a simple, efficient, and inexpensive solution...tried this and it worked!! Thanks so much!!!
“Leave it to a woman to come up with a simple Efficient…”….etc I too appreciate this video & I’m actually going to exactly what she did to fix what my rocks issue is… but what’s it have to do with her being a woman? No offense and I’m 100% anti-leftLibs by the way. So aren’t you admitting at the same time the videos you watched were too complicated for you, cause YOU’RE a woman? Aren’t you calling yourself stupid, in the same sentences you speak of leaving it to a woman, to figure out something you couldn’t on videos with men trying to show you their own ways too. Yes I agree this video works, but what the HAAAAIIILLLL (hell) does this have to do with the men who made videos you didn’t understand, as well as gender having anything my do with this (simple good easy-to do trick, I agree) video? Are the mens ideas stupid and too complicated.. or is that you…? I mean that’s what you are literally saying both of Im the same comment you give powder to “WOMEN!!” You GO GIRL!!” I mean I can’t stand liberal gender blah blah blah leftists BULLCRAP. So if you vote Left and are all on board with that “LGbQT/ feminist [imaginary fake-]community” and you say something sexist like this..? Then you got serious mental issues. But if you vote right and we’re saying it as a “hell yeah, girl!” Then why did you say “leave it up to a woman to come up with simple efficient…”. So because you didn’t understand or didn’t want to do the other videos, and the host of this one just happens to be a women, you get to look down upon everyone else just because YOU also happened to be a woman..? Hopefully you’re a Trmp person & not a liberalllll. But regardless I just can’t stand by and let you psychologically convince yourself of your own fraudulent sexist words. If you‘ve ever called someone sexist or Trmp(45th president)sexist or anything, then you are a WALKING hypocrite, and should be embarrassed of your lack of self awareness and delusion. On the other hand, if you’re a Trmp voter type person, making a sexist joke, then we can all get along and it’s actually funny and doesn’t matter. But I won’t ever let someone online get away with speaking fraud when it crosses me. And today this crosses my eyesight. I have been doing this for years and to extremely public figures who I have broken mentally secretly by doing exactly what I am here, excerpt with FAR FAR FAR FAR worse serious BS beyond the level of anyones understanding. That aside. You’ve been blessed by the CAFTGod today. And I hope you either continue making jokes like that, or if you fill in ballots towards the Lefty liberal side, then I hope you never speak of anything related to the very topics you pretend to support & hate “sexistTrump.” Because you will get caught again. Now, ladies, I will be using this, and thank you for your time. Screenshot this, because the CAFTGod has just given you a free gift. People used to flock to my words to see what famous Political/TV frauds I destroy the confidence of. Until I was hunted by people you couldn’t even imagine watching thru my backyard window. Now I’m back on, and growing, and luckily for you, I needed a warm up to get the week started. Remember my name. You’ll see it mentioned but places sooner than you know. But they fear associating with me because I never stop hunting. And they don’t want to be tied in with me saying stuff like this. But I’ll never stop catching fraud. You’ll see/ hear of CAFTGod’s name someday. They all know it already. And now you as a regular human being, as I appear to be too as much as possible on the outside because they’re watching me, just received a one of a kind message, that should forever stick with you. (It will). & Now… this is my goodbye. Peace.
PS- if you aren’t a FeminisyLeftyLib, than anyone reading this who actually is… can now learn a lesson regardless of my words personally pertained to your life or not, now someone in the future may think twice and look I’m the mirror who needs to, if you’re not one who does. (Meaning if you’re left wing look I’m the mirror, if you’re Trmp supporter, you’re classified as ‘normal’ by default in my mind.. [I am in independent AntiLibLftWing & AntiChristianRightwing]…). I speak pure truth to all people & nothing but the truth at all times. Hopefully someone someday can read this and wake up and stop embarrassing themselves immediately, which ultimately is the lesson here for anyone this shoe fits on. “If the shoe fits, wear it.” If not, then I’m glad you agree with me. If neither, you need to get it together asap, cause you’re an adult child… -[message to anyone reading this now or in the future]. Sincerely, the one the Mayans prophesied about: Your very own rare & unknown Leader who goes by the names of: •R-Rated Prophet, •CatchaFraudTheoryGod (CAFTGod). . (I won’t reply for now, but maybe months or years from now sometime coming across this sometime in the future, I will reply. But for the time being, don’t bother wasting your valuable own remaining time here on earth, trying to reply to me within anytime recent to this post). My work here is done. And hopefully impacts someone sometime down the line who I can respond to as their own personal gift from the one of a kind & unworldly, CAFTGod. Peace.
She saved me! Have a huge dead dirt gravely crushed stone are to clean up for planting in a house I bought I have been dreading it until I saw this video! Thank you!
Staple that hardware cloth to an A-frame made from 2x4's. Pour gravel onto the now diagnol upright hardware cloth one shovel load at a time. The gravel will tumble down into one pile and the dirt will fall straight down forming a seperate pile.
I also used this method in the past. Two other great ways to clean the rock are vacuum and blow. If you don't want to move the rock, grab your shop vac and while keeping two to three sections of the hose pipe in the vertical, you will be able to vacuum out the loose dirt and dead matter. The rocks will make it half way up the pipe before falling back to the ground you may have to occasionally reduce the suction to allow the rocks to fall back, but they won't get to the vacuum. You can also use an intermediate bucket with lid to collect the dirt. Like the kind chlorine comes in. I've also taken the dirtiest of river rock in my wheel barrow and spread on the driveway. Hose it down then let it dry in the sun. Run a broom across it for a minute to loosen the dirt off the driveway. Then use a blower straight down to separate the dirt and debris from the stone. Both worked great for me.
Awesome! Content and comments like this make me grateful for youtube, and people like yourselves that are taking the time to share useful info. Cheers!
@@cg4806I think her method is ideal for dirt mixed in with the rock and no so much leaves and pine straw. That stuff isn’t worth sifting for specifically.
Many years later I have a simple fix for you, tie a piece of wire mesh to the end of your vac. This prevents stones going up the pipe.. I have 40sq meters of white stone shale under fruit trees, over the years the leaves and fruit have created a nice compost for weeds. I am in the process of replacing the plastic under the shale but found a really powerful shop vac that I am going to use first then lift the plastic and get the shale into piles, as I lay a stronger plastic lining down I will transfer the stones. Any loose dirt can be vacuumed up on full power once the shale is in place. Z good weedkiller once a year as weeds show there leaves and it is rather easy to maintain. I think the secret with shale is raking it every few weeks too.
I really appreciate vids like this. So simple,easy, and to the point. Details and tips are always nice to have. Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!
I was hoping for a better solution, but nice to see you putting the work in! I'm thinking of making some kind of Shop-Vac attachment with a screen. good video!
@@madbrad6282 I use a shop vac. A gas blower/vac has an impeller that can break if rocks get to it. I have a large shop vac with a large diameter tube maybe 4 ".
What's interesting is I just ran across this video and it's the first I've ever seen the mesh being used. Last summer when I moved about 6 ton of rock, I had to clean all of it. I used chicken wire that I zip tied to a milk crate and it made it really easy. It has handles to hold on to while shaking the dirt out. I eventually had different size chicken wire in separate crates to catch the smaller ones coming out so I had three different size rocks and three different piles that I could easily get the sand and dirt out. It's like you're panning for rocks, but yeah it's good to know that I'm not crazy and having crazy ideas, it's a normal thing.
Also I found that instead of using a tarp it's easier if you use a 32 gallon storage tote or something like that then you can have that that's extra soil if you need it. Investing in a dolly was a good move to move the rocks and the excess soil
Great - found the save button now I can’t delete my last comment. Obviously I wanted to save this. This is a humongous easy, helpful and truly clever video - and I’m now subscribed. Thank you so much Ms. Moravec!
My friend first makes a border about 6 inches high around the driveway with a few sandbags, or wooden planks so lighter stones don't get blown around, then pressure washes all the gravel. Waits a half a day for the soot and dirt to settle and stones to dry. Then uses a blower on it to get rid of twigs and pine straw. The whole process takes accumulatively 45 minutes.
Catherine, you are terrific. I've been doing the same type of sifting for years with smaller river rock for my garden. The same screen, same tarp from the dollar store but made a six foot by two-foot format with the long edges crewed to two one inch aluminum tubes from the local pool supply dumpster. I work over a three-foot high wall and sift the debris from the stones onto the tarp, just as you are doing. Less bending over at the age of 70. My rubber basket is black. Maybe I'll find a purple one next dumpster dive or bulk garbage day. Bottom line is the leaves and rocks together are better water and nutrients for the garden. But the wife likes it clean and neat.
I thought I was the only one with a pile of decorative gravel sitting in her driveway, that was filled with debris. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. For posting this period and for the idea.
Thank you for the video - I'm doing exactly this at the moment with a gravel area that is a bad state - Lots of earth and pine/needle debris to remove and weeds growing through it.. I'm using a plastic sieve, but the idea of useing mesh is novel and useful. Probably get more stones cleaned doing it that way. Best wishes from the UK
Your method is effective, but backbreaking for any sizable area. One consideration is to avoid the types of landscaping that will turn in to a maintenance headache (sooner or later). I learned this the hard way. 🌺
Omg you saved my life I started a project that ended up becoming way too much for me to handle and I was going to replace all the rock but I didn’t realize how heavy and how much there was going to be and now I’m going to clean and reuse what i have and I’ve been stressing about how I’m going to do this thank you
Love this idea! I went Lowes to get the mesh. However, I laid my mesh over a 30year old little red wagon and let the debris go into the wagon. Wheeled it around and dumped it when finished. The clean rock rolled off onto a plastic cloth on my patio so I could shove it back where it belongs. No heavt lifting!
No wonder you have almost 300k views! You are a genius! I have spent hours on a very large project. I switched to your way, and have done 3 times as much cleaning in less time. Wow! Thanks!
Right idea - very wrong method! The average urban dweller is just asking for a back injury doing what Ms.Moravec demonstrates in this video. If you have more than 10 square feet of gravel to sift, then you need to get a larger piece of construction "cloth" and nail it onto a frame, then elevate one end and dump the rocks/dirt/organics on the top and let the slide down dump all of the organics onto the ground under the screen while the rocks run right back into a wagon or wheelbarrow. If you have lots of xeriscape, then rent a little stand behind bobcat like this ua-cam.com/video/kVhEKKvR3iA/v-deo.html to scoop up and dump the dirty rocks, and then scoop the clean rocks back up and return to your landscape.
Im a backyard soil enthusiast, and I am constantly looking for high quality, organic (carbon) material to add to my living soil. I am thoroughly entertained by your video because I use the same method, with one small adjustment; I find harvesting the "dirt leaves, and pine needles" and discarding the "gravel" material (which ends up in piles) has had a more profound impact on the health of my garden than the other way around. To each his own, I just wanted to put it out there if were going to take the time to separate the materials we might as well make sure we make the most of the experience, and repurpose the resources available to us. Having said that I think I could use some more road base in the driveway.
Great point. I usually take the debris that falls out and put it in my compost pile, which then ends up back in my garden. All that organic material and soil is very valuable. I use the rock as a soil cover for unplanted areas in my landscape.
Good method. Unfortunately (for me) the rocks have dried and wet mud all over them, so I did have to build a wood frame for the wire mesh and rinse the rocks with water. I did it out on a part of the lawn that needs some soil anyway, and after the soil dries out, I'll spread it around. The best idea of course is to buy a condo and let someone else do all the work.
Thank you so much. This approach is perfect for the relatively small amount of gravel and soil mix that I need to sift. Anything more would be overkill for my small yard.
I’m sure this is hard, but at least this is a workable system. I can do this. I’ll have to take my time with it, but now that I have a system, I can complete my project. Thanks,
You are lucky. The previous owner of my property has 2 layers of rock. The first one is the white sharp stuff poured over good river rock. I had to come up with 3 step process. The first is a milk crate with hardware cloth in the bottom. I put the rocks in that to shake the soil out. Then I dump it over a grille just big enough to let the white rocks through. The remaining rocks get dumped into the final container and used.
Catherine, I love this method. I have a lot of gravel around my house that needs to be cleaned from the buildup of soil and pine needles, so I'll be purchasing some hardware cloth at my local hardware store later today. 👍🏼
This doesn't work so well when you've got smaller stones. I put the stones in the wheel barrow, fill it with water than shake the dirt off and put it in another container with running water.. The dirt and stuff tends to fall to the bottom of the water where it becomes sludge and the organic matter floats to the top.
you can build a frame with wood and use poultry staples to attach it (nails to nail together wood. can handle 10x the rock with a wheelbarrow underneath.
After watching countless videos on this, I used this technique with 1.4” hardware cloth, without seeing this video. This has been the best technique if you can’t lift them all at once. It had taken me 3 months because mine is larger, I’m tiny (4’ 9” and have Lyme.) and we have had heatwaves. Now I want to wash the dust and dirt off them! The stones, from upper MI are beautiful and I can’t find more like them. Anyone know what will wash away mulch dust, dirt, and make them look nice? The landscapers want to out down glue to keep the grass they don’t bag out of the stones. Not sure if that’s the answer, because it also collects debris from a distressed tree. ❣️
I've got a soil sieve with a 1/4 inch mesh (as well as a couple of smaller ones) and my problem is that sifting does the following: 1. the 1/4 inch mesh catches the larger rocks but also larger leaves, sticks, and other plant material which are difficult (read: time consuming) to separate from each other (the leaf blower is mixed, as the larger rocks tend to catch stuff under them that won't blow out without excessive labor raking over the rocks) 2. the 1/4 inch mesh lets smaller rocks pass through it, of which there are a substantial amount. meaning that i'm throwing away rock 3. it's still a lot of work. in about an hour i got about 10 pounds of sifted rocks which is just a tiny patch. Even at $50/ton that's about 25 cents an hour I'm "earning" to avoid just buying new rock. If I used a larger screen I doubt I would become 50 times more efficient, but even if I was I would be making barely more than minimum wage. Of course buying new rock every season doesn't seem like a good solution either. 4. You mentioned taking the debris to the compost heap, which... if you don't have one what are you supposed to do, throw it in your trash can? Now you've got space that either needs to be filled or your yard level is now lower than before.
The debris is still in your yard either way so thats not really the problem of the person who made the video. I would take it and use it in low spots, garden beds, any minor grading that needs to be done, or simply put it in your trash can.
I like to fill a cement mixing tub with water; then place my screen (mine is attached to a frame), in the bottom and then add the contaminated rock. the pine needles, leaves, and, other woody debris float to the top where I skim them off with my hand. The rocks float to the bottom along with any water soluble materials. I lift the rocks out with the screen leaving everything else behind. This method also allows me to remove any unwanted rocks like pieces of lava rock, decomposed granite, bark, etc. The down side is finding a place to dump the tub when you're done.
Do you know if adding anything to the water might help speed up process. I was thinking salt and coating rocks w olive oil but that’s a very uneducated guess
Question?… I’m trying many methods too, but can’t seem to find an easy only without building some type of multilayer sieve. Do you have any suggestions for small pebbles. My problem is when I use screen with small enough holes for the gravel not to go through, the leaves won’t come through the small holes…
I have alot of pine needles and small sticks in gravel walkway areas. Can the hardware cloth catch the gravel and actually remove the pine needles and sticks? I did not notice you had any pine needles in your video. Any suggestions from you or your viewers? I'm just concerned the wire will not remove the pine needles. Loved your video!
It definitely helps, depending on how large the rocks and pine needles are. If the pine needles and sticks are quite long, another option is to find a mesh size that will let the rock drop through and retain the debris. Good luck!
Perfect! Now go to the hardware store for me and bring everything to my house 🤓 JK. I’ve been cleaning my water fountain rocks and it’s back breaking work. Sludge, mud, decaying leaves and the largest creepy crawlers you’ve ever seen. I will use your method as it looks the most simple. I also have to hose the rocks as well. Thanks for the video. 👍🏻
What about half an acre of it? I've heard that a 'hula' hoe used correctly will lift the stones up, and everything thing falls beneath the stone as you drag it across the ground. This way you aren't removing the debris, but simply lifting the stones up and putting them on top for appearance
Catherine, I've done exactly the samething but using a larger 'filter', something like 2'x6' and the holes were smaller and diamond shaped its what I had available, but then two people had to shake it. But either way this is a time consuming process. But does this really get the pine needles separated from the gravel?
Great point. When I use the hardware cloth with the 1/2-inch openings, it gets out spruce and pinyon pine needles. But, you have a great point that it doesn't work so well with the longer needled pines in my area, like ponderosa pine or Austrian. However, I find that the longer needles rake off of a gravel layer fairly easily with a metal lawn rake. Do you have any other methods?
Catherine, I don't have other methods for longer ponderosa pine needles, but looking. I have tried three different rakes and still get plenty of gravel with the pine needles.
I stick the nozzle of my leaf blower under the rock and just let it do it's thing. Have to wear a mask, but it'll blow a ton of the dirt out, right down to the weed barrier.
There absolutely is an easier way, never use gravel as a landscape material. In my opinion the only place it’s useful is for bedding for pavers or trenches.
@@familyofgeniuses I've tried the leaf blower, but it's not powerful enough to dislodge the large rocks enough for debris caught under them to move, but too powerful to not kick up the smaller rocks and leave bare spots.
Rocks and gardens really don't go together in my opinion. No offense. I've been battling "decorative" gravel for 20 years on my property. If I were to start a landscaping school: lesson #1: don't add stones anywhere on your property.
understandable, but i happen to live in a place where hardscaping like this is pretty much necessary in order to combat an insane dry season (where little to no ground cover can grow) and then a monsoon season (where runoff is a huge issue), this hardscaping is a really great way to establish proper drainage where you don’t want flooding and water damage. i wouldn’t recommend it if you live in a place that has all four seasons, or a rental property where it’ll be someone else’s problem to remove all the rocks later, in that case, stepping stones or pavers would be ideal.
If the mesh was angled at 45 degrees and a bit longer, could you shovel the gravel onto it and as it rolls off into a bin the dusts falls onto a tarp. Just to save your back.
I watched so many youtube videos with complicated and engineered sifters that would take days to design and build. Leave it to a woman to come up with a simple, efficient, and inexpensive solution...tried this and it worked!! Thanks so much!!!
So glad it worked for you. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best!
“Leave it to a woman to come up with a simple Efficient…”….etc
I too appreciate this video & I’m actually going to exactly what she did to fix what my rocks issue is…
but what’s it have to do with her being a woman?
No offense and I’m 100% anti-leftLibs by the way. So aren’t you admitting at the same time the videos you watched were too complicated for you, cause YOU’RE a woman? Aren’t you calling yourself stupid, in the same sentences you speak of leaving it to a woman, to figure out something you couldn’t on videos with men trying to show you their own ways too. Yes I agree this video works, but what the HAAAAIIILLLL (hell) does this have to do with the men who made videos you didn’t understand, as well as gender having anything my do with this (simple good easy-to do trick, I agree) video?
Are the mens ideas stupid and too complicated.. or is that you…? I mean that’s what you are literally saying both of Im the same comment you give powder to “WOMEN!!” You GO GIRL!!” I mean I can’t stand liberal gender blah blah blah leftists BULLCRAP. So if you vote Left and are all on board with that “LGbQT/ feminist [imaginary fake-]community” and you say something sexist like this..? Then you got serious mental issues. But if you vote right and we’re saying it as a “hell yeah, girl!” Then why did you say “leave it up to a woman to come up with simple efficient…”.
So because you didn’t understand or didn’t want to do the other videos, and the host of this one just happens to be a women, you get to look down upon everyone else just because YOU also happened to be a woman..?
Hopefully you’re a Trmp person & not a liberalllll. But regardless I just can’t stand by and let you psychologically convince yourself of your own fraudulent sexist words. If you‘ve ever called someone sexist or Trmp(45th president)sexist or anything, then you are a WALKING hypocrite, and should be embarrassed of your lack of self awareness and delusion. On the other hand, if you’re a Trmp voter type person, making a sexist joke, then we can all get along and it’s actually funny and doesn’t matter. But I won’t ever let someone online get away with speaking fraud when it crosses me. And today this crosses my eyesight. I have been doing this for years and to extremely public figures who I have broken mentally secretly by doing exactly what I am here, excerpt with FAR FAR FAR FAR worse serious BS beyond the level of anyones understanding. That aside. You’ve been blessed by the CAFTGod today. And I hope you either continue making jokes like that, or if you fill in ballots towards the Lefty liberal side, then I hope you never speak of anything related to the very topics you pretend to support & hate “sexistTrump.” Because you will get caught again.
Now, ladies, I will be using this, and thank you for your time. Screenshot this, because the CAFTGod has just given you a free gift. People used to flock to my words to see what famous Political/TV frauds I destroy the confidence of. Until I was hunted by people you couldn’t even imagine watching thru my backyard window. Now I’m back on, and growing, and luckily for you, I needed a warm up to get the week started. Remember my name. You’ll see it mentioned but places sooner than you know. But they fear associating with me because I never stop hunting. And they don’t want to be tied in with me saying stuff like this. But I’ll never stop catching fraud. You’ll see/ hear of CAFTGod’s name someday. They all know it already. And now you as a regular human being, as I appear to be too as much as possible on the outside because they’re watching me, just received a one of a kind message, that should forever stick with you. (It will).
& Now… this is my goodbye. Peace.
PS- if you aren’t a FeminisyLeftyLib, than anyone reading this who actually is… can now learn a lesson regardless of my words personally pertained to your life or not, now someone in the future may think twice and look I’m the mirror who needs to, if you’re not one who does. (Meaning if you’re left wing look I’m the mirror, if you’re Trmp supporter, you’re classified as ‘normal’ by default in my mind.. [I am in independent AntiLibLftWing & AntiChristianRightwing]…). I speak pure truth to all people & nothing but the truth at all times. Hopefully someone someday can read this and wake up and stop embarrassing themselves immediately, which ultimately is the lesson here for anyone this shoe fits on. “If the shoe fits, wear it.” If not, then I’m glad you agree with me. If neither, you need to get it together asap, cause you’re an adult child…
-[message to anyone reading this now or in the future].
Sincerely, the one the Mayans prophesied about:
Your very own rare & unknown Leader who goes by the names of:
•R-Rated Prophet,
•CatchaFraudTheoryGod (CAFTGod).
.
(I won’t reply for now, but maybe months or years from now sometime coming across this sometime in the future, I will reply. But for the time being, don’t bother wasting your valuable own remaining time here on earth, trying to reply to me within anytime recent to this post). My work here is done. And hopefully impacts someone sometime down the line who I can respond to as their own personal gift from the one of a kind & unworldly, CAFTGod.
Peace.
🤭
I totally agree!!
god bless the people who post the most niche videos like this, you never know when you’re going to end up needing this kind of advice 😂 ❤❤❤❤
She saved me! Have a huge dead dirt gravely crushed stone are to clean up for planting in a house I bought
I have been dreading it until I saw this video! Thank you!
You actually addressed every single issue I had in this video. I'm ready to clean my rocks and get them where they belong.
Staple that hardware cloth to an A-frame made from 2x4's. Pour gravel onto the now diagnol upright hardware cloth one shovel load at a time. The gravel will tumble down into one pile and the dirt will fall straight down forming a seperate pile.
I also used this method in the past. Two other great ways to clean the rock are vacuum and blow. If you don't want to move the rock, grab your shop vac and while keeping two to three sections of the hose pipe in the vertical, you will be able to vacuum out the loose dirt and dead matter. The rocks will make it half way up the pipe before falling back to the ground you may have to occasionally reduce the suction to allow the rocks to fall back, but they won't get to the vacuum. You can also use an intermediate bucket with lid to collect the dirt. Like the kind chlorine comes in. I've also taken the dirtiest of river rock in my wheel barrow and spread on the driveway. Hose it down then let it dry in the sun. Run a broom across it for a minute to loosen the dirt off the driveway. Then use a blower straight down to separate the dirt and debris from the stone. Both worked great for me.
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing these with all of us.
Awesome! Content and comments like this make me grateful for youtube, and people like yourselves that are taking the time to share useful info. Cheers!
@@cg4806I think her method is ideal for dirt mixed in with the rock and no so much leaves and pine straw. That stuff isn’t worth sifting for specifically.
Many years later I have a simple fix for you, tie a piece of wire mesh to the end of your vac. This prevents stones going up the pipe.. I have 40sq meters of white stone shale under fruit trees, over the years the leaves and fruit have created a nice compost for weeds. I am in the process of replacing the plastic under the shale but found a really powerful shop vac that I am going to use first then lift the plastic and get the shale into piles, as I lay a stronger plastic lining down I will transfer the stones. Any loose dirt can be vacuumed up on full power once the shale is in place. Z good weedkiller once a year as weeds show there leaves and it is rather easy to maintain. I think the secret with shale is raking it every few weeks too.
And its a good workout for toning your arms and shoulders. Dont forget to bend the knees and contract your abs and breathe
You just saved my life. I have never been so glad to find a video in my life! :D :D :D
I really appreciate vids like this. So simple,easy, and to the point. Details and tips are always nice to have. Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!
I was hoping for a better solution, but nice to see you putting the work in! I'm thinking of making some kind of Shop-Vac attachment with a screen. good video!
Did you make one how did it go?
Have you looked into those leaf blower/vacuum combos? I’ve been thinking of getting one.
And how's your method going? Any luck?
@@madbrad6282 I use a shop vac. A gas blower/vac has an impeller that can break if rocks get to it. I have a large shop vac with a large diameter tube maybe 4 ".
What's interesting is I just ran across this video and it's the first I've ever seen the mesh being used. Last summer when I moved about 6 ton of rock, I had to clean all of it. I used chicken wire that I zip tied to a milk crate and it made it really easy. It has handles to hold on to while shaking the dirt out. I eventually had different size chicken wire in separate crates to catch the smaller ones coming out so I had three different size rocks and three different piles that I could easily get the sand and dirt out. It's like you're panning for rocks, but yeah it's good to know that I'm not crazy and having crazy ideas, it's a normal thing.
Also I found that instead of using a tarp it's easier if you use a 32 gallon storage tote or something like that then you can have that that's extra soil if you need it. Investing in a dolly was a good move to move the rocks and the excess soil
using the same technique now to clean up..
I have about 20 feet of this to do today! And I was dreading it. Thanks so much for this ! Your a life savor!!
Sometimes the best ideas are simple. Good work Catherine!
I have a small rock bed in my yard that I've been dreading to tackle. You've just made it feel completely manageable. Thank you!!
Great - found the save button now I can’t delete my last comment. Obviously I wanted to save this. This is a humongous easy, helpful and truly clever video - and I’m now subscribed. Thank you so much Ms. Moravec!
I love ppl who go to these lengths 10/10 😊
My friend first makes a border about 6 inches high around the driveway with a few sandbags, or wooden planks so lighter stones don't get blown around, then pressure washes all the gravel. Waits a half a day for the soot and dirt to settle and stones to dry.
Then uses a blower on it to get rid of twigs and pine straw.
The whole process takes accumulatively 45 minutes.
Catherine, you are terrific.
I've been doing the same type of sifting for years with smaller river rock for my garden.
The same screen, same tarp from the dollar store but made a six foot by two-foot format with the long edges crewed to two one inch aluminum tubes from the local pool supply dumpster.
I work over a three-foot high wall and sift the debris from the stones onto the tarp, just as you are doing.
Less bending over at the age of 70.
My rubber basket is black.
Maybe I'll find a purple one next dumpster dive or bulk garbage day.
Bottom line is the leaves and rocks together are better water and nutrients for the garden.
But the wife likes it clean and neat.
I thought I was the only one with a pile of decorative gravel sitting in her driveway, that was filled with debris. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. For posting this period and for the idea.
Thank you for the video - I'm doing exactly this at the moment with a gravel area that is a bad state - Lots of earth and pine/needle debris to remove and weeds growing through it..
I'm using a plastic sieve, but the idea of useing mesh is novel and useful. Probably get more stones cleaned doing it that way.
Best wishes from the UK
I'm in the UK doing my front garden with a plastic riddle, a wheel barrow full of water, and a jet washer. It's gonna take months!
Your method is effective, but backbreaking for any sizable area. One consideration is to avoid the types of landscaping that will turn in to a maintenance headache (sooner or later). I learned this the hard way. 🌺
Omg you saved my life I started a project that ended up becoming way too much for me to handle and I was going to replace all the rock but I didn’t realize how heavy and how much there was going to be and now I’m going to clean and reuse what i have and I’ve been stressing about how I’m going to do this thank you
Love this idea! I went Lowes to get the mesh. However, I laid my mesh over a 30year old little red wagon and let the debris go into the wagon. Wheeled it around and dumped it when finished. The clean rock rolled off onto a plastic cloth on my patio so I could shove it back where it belongs. No heavt lifting!
No wonder you have almost 300k views! You are a genius! I have spent hours on a very large project. I switched to your way, and have done 3 times as much cleaning in less time. Wow! Thanks!
Most helpful video on UA-cam ❤
Thank you! I have been wondering how to clean my messy gravel. This is perfect.
Bonus points for having matching gloves/clothes/bucket/trim paint. *Thumbsup*
Drippin
It’s ok for small areas other wise it would take forever and also needs quite good physical condition too
My thoughts exactly. I have a huge property in the mountains and there is no way in hell I could do this though destroying my back
Thank you! I've been trying to find a good way to remove all the weeds and dirt from my gravel.
Right idea - very wrong method! The average urban dweller is just asking for a back injury doing what Ms.Moravec demonstrates in this video.
If you have more than 10 square feet of gravel to sift, then you need to get a larger piece of construction "cloth" and nail it onto a frame, then elevate one end and dump the rocks/dirt/organics on the top and let the slide down dump all of the organics onto the ground under the screen while the rocks run right back into a wagon or wheelbarrow.
If you have lots of xeriscape, then rent a little stand behind bobcat like this ua-cam.com/video/kVhEKKvR3iA/v-deo.html to scoop up and dump the dirty rocks, and then scoop the clean rocks back up and return to your landscape.
Im a backyard soil enthusiast, and I am constantly looking for high quality, organic (carbon) material to add to my living soil. I am thoroughly entertained by your video because I use the same method, with one small adjustment; I find harvesting the "dirt leaves, and pine needles" and discarding the "gravel" material (which ends up in piles) has had a more profound impact on the health of my garden than the other way around. To each his own, I just wanted to put it out there if were going to take the time to separate the materials we might as well make sure we make the most of the experience, and repurpose the resources available to us. Having said that I think I could use some more road base in the driveway.
Great point. I usually take the debris that falls out and put it in my compost pile, which then ends up back in my garden. All that organic material and soil is very valuable. I use the rock as a soil cover for unplanted areas in my landscape.
Fab idea. I was using a garden riddle . But this looks far easier. Thanks for the video.
i have a ton of gravel. waaaaaah! it will take forever but looks like this is the best and only real way to clean it up
Thank you. Now I know to never put gravel down.
EXACTLY lol
Good method. Unfortunately (for me) the rocks have dried and wet mud all over them, so I did have to build a wood frame for the wire mesh and rinse the rocks with water. I did it out on a part of the lawn that needs some soil anyway, and after the soil dries out, I'll spread it around. The best idea of course is to buy a condo and let someone else do all the work.
Love this. Was thinking about building a frame, but thought it would get heavy.
Very good idea and excellent tips, thank you.
Thank you so much. This approach is perfect for the relatively small amount of gravel and soil mix that I need to sift. Anything more would be overkill for my small yard.
I’m sure this is hard, but at least this is a workable system. I can do this. I’ll have to take my time with it, but now that I have a system, I can complete my project. Thanks,
You are lucky. The previous owner of my property has 2 layers of rock. The first one is the white sharp stuff poured over good river rock. I had to come up with 3 step process.
The first is a milk crate with hardware cloth in the bottom. I put the rocks in that to shake the soil out. Then I dump it over a grille just big enough to let the white rocks through. The remaining rocks get dumped into the final container and used.
I did this today and it works so well! Thanks for the idea.
How long did it take to finish your project
Catherine, I love this method. I have a lot of gravel around my house that needs to be cleaned from the buildup of soil and pine needles, so I'll be purchasing some hardware cloth at my local hardware store later today. 👍🏼
Glad it was helpful! Good luck with your project.
This doesn't work so well when you've got smaller stones. I put the stones in the wheel barrow, fill it with water than shake the dirt off and put it in another container with running water.. The dirt and stuff tends to fall to the bottom of the water where it becomes sludge and the organic matter floats to the top.
I'm using this method lol .. my stones are all mud covered 😢
you can build a frame with wood and use poultry staples to attach it (nails to nail together wood. can handle 10x the rock with a wheelbarrow underneath.
After watching countless videos on this, I used this technique with 1.4” hardware cloth, without seeing this video. This has been the best technique if you can’t lift them all at once. It had taken me 3 months because mine is larger, I’m tiny (4’ 9” and have Lyme.) and we have had heatwaves.
Now I want to wash the dust and dirt off them! The stones, from upper MI are beautiful and I can’t find more like them.
Anyone know what will wash away mulch dust, dirt, and make them look nice?
The landscapers want to out down glue to keep the grass they don’t bag out of the stones. Not sure if that’s the answer, because it also collects debris from a distressed tree. ❣️
Great idea! Thanks for posting! Going to be trying this with sifting cut grass out of rubber mulch before planting some shrubs.
this is EXACTLY what I needed! Thank you
I've got a soil sieve with a 1/4 inch mesh (as well as a couple of smaller ones) and my problem is that sifting does the following:
1. the 1/4 inch mesh catches the larger rocks but also larger leaves, sticks, and other plant material which are difficult (read: time consuming) to separate from each other (the leaf blower is mixed, as the larger rocks tend to catch stuff under them that won't blow out without excessive labor raking over the rocks)
2. the 1/4 inch mesh lets smaller rocks pass through it, of which there are a substantial amount. meaning that i'm throwing away rock
3. it's still a lot of work. in about an hour i got about 10 pounds of sifted rocks which is just a tiny patch. Even at $50/ton that's about 25 cents an hour I'm "earning" to avoid just buying new rock. If I used a larger screen I doubt I would become 50 times more efficient, but even if I was I would be making barely more than minimum wage. Of course buying new rock every season doesn't seem like a good solution either.
4. You mentioned taking the debris to the compost heap, which... if you don't have one what are you supposed to do, throw it in your trash can? Now you've got space that either needs to be filled or your yard level is now lower than before.
The debris is still in your yard either way so thats not really the problem of the person who made the video. I would take it and use it in low spots, garden beds, any minor grading that needs to be done, or simply put it in your trash can.
6 yrd later, this video is still super useful. You just took a weight off my shoulders
Same 😁
I'm so glad to hear this. Thank you very much for the comment!
I like to fill a cement mixing tub with water; then place my screen (mine is attached to a frame), in the bottom and then add the contaminated rock. the pine needles, leaves, and, other woody debris float to the top where I skim them off with my hand. The rocks float to the bottom along with any water soluble materials. I lift the rocks out with the screen leaving everything else behind. This method also allows me to remove any unwanted rocks like pieces of lava rock, decomposed granite, bark, etc. The down side is finding a place to dump the tub when you're done.
Please post a video
Do you know if adding anything to the water might help speed up process. I was thinking salt and coating rocks w olive oil but that’s a very uneducated guess
Question?… I’m trying many methods too, but can’t seem to find an easy only without building some type of multilayer sieve. Do you have any suggestions for small pebbles. My problem is when I use screen with small enough holes for the gravel not to go through, the leaves won’t come through the small holes…
Great, I have a number of places with the same problem. Thank you. All I need to buy si the mesh.
She is a hard worker. I just pore more gravel over it.
😂
Kovačević Dobrina 🤣🤣🤣
Lol same
if you do that the weeds will still grow through. you need to remove the dirt to keep the weeds down.
Perfect plan, thank you SO much xx
I have a giant landscaped area this won't work but for a small spot.good idea.
Thank you a million times over.
Absolutely genius. Thank you!
That sounds like really hard work if youbhave alot of rock.
Oh, I have some chicken fencing fencing in the shed, I'll give it a shot, thanks
I have alot of pine needles and small sticks in gravel walkway areas. Can the hardware cloth catch the gravel and actually remove the pine needles and sticks? I did not notice you had any pine needles in your video. Any suggestions from you or your viewers? I'm just concerned the wire will not remove the pine needles. Loved your video!
It definitely helps, depending on how large the rocks and pine needles are. If the pine needles and sticks are quite long, another option is to find a mesh size that will let the rock drop through and retain the debris. Good luck!
I just put it all in my dishwasher... easy peasy.
😆
chiil What setting did you use? Hot start and finish and did you use Jet Dry? 🤣😂
Where did you get that thing?! I went to Home Depot and I didn’t even know what to ask for.
She said the name of it like ten times haha. Just Google 'Hardware Cloth Home Depot" and it'll pop right up.
Well done! This is fantastic, thank you.
Simple is good thanks for the tip
Is there any way to clear out shit from these beds that isn’t a 10 hour back breaking method?
Nope. 😩
Can you make a video to how to clean rocks from your garden
Great video, thanks.
Perfect! Now go to the hardware store for me and bring everything to my house 🤓 JK. I’ve been cleaning my water fountain rocks and it’s back breaking work. Sludge, mud, decaying leaves and the largest creepy crawlers you’ve ever seen. I will use your method as it looks the most simple. I also have to hose the rocks as well. Thanks for the video. 👍🏻
Do it after a heavy rainfall. It’s amazing what water can do to help you clean dirt off. Wouldn’t you think?
What about half an acre of it? I've heard that a 'hula' hoe used correctly will lift the stones up, and everything thing falls beneath the stone as you drag it across the ground. This way you aren't removing the debris, but simply lifting the stones up and putting them on top for appearance
If it's just for appearance I'd probably use a blower.
Catherine,
I've done exactly the samething but using a larger 'filter', something like 2'x6' and the holes were smaller and diamond shaped its what I had available, but then two people had to shake it. But either way this is a time consuming process. But does this really get the pine needles separated from the gravel?
Great point. When I use the hardware cloth with the 1/2-inch openings, it gets out spruce and pinyon pine needles. But, you have a great point that it doesn't work so well with the longer needled pines in my area, like ponderosa pine or Austrian. However, I find that the longer needles rake off of a gravel layer fairly easily with a metal lawn rake. Do you have any other methods?
Catherine, I don't have other methods for longer ponderosa pine needles, but looking. I have tried three different rakes and still get plenty of gravel with the pine needles.
This is insane. Yes it works it you have have time and energy.
Brilliant and I have all the things I need here 👌🙂🙏
Brilliant idea! I'm going to try this on my driveway. I might try dumping the clean graven on a wheelbarrow, though, so I don't hurt my back too much
Pressure wash it, and you won't have to break your back.
Won't even have to touch them.
You are a genius Thank you!❤
Where’s the save button?
I stick the nozzle of my leaf blower under the rock and just let it do it's thing. Have to wear a mask, but it'll blow a ton of the dirt out, right down to the weed barrier.
Please post a video
Great video!
Great work!!!!
There has to be an easier way this people must have all the time in the world.
There absolutely is an easier way, never use gravel as a landscape material. In my opinion the only place it’s useful is for bedding for pavers or trenches.
@@eaglekeeper6056 Saludos
try a wheel barrow
Ingenuous! Thanks so much!
Good idea!! Thanks!!
Excellent idea thank you sweetheart x
Thanks, great ideas!
Great idea!
Thank you so much😊
Brilliant! Thank you!
Thanks :-) I'll be doing this in my garden in UK :-)
Glad to hear! Let me know how it works for you.
When you come here for an easy way but then you see the same manual hard elbow grease labor from the 1800s. 🙄
I don't get this video.
simple and easy. Thx
This is not very efficient even for small areas, but I probably have over 1,000sqft of river rock. Not looking forward to using this as an option.
I have a similar issue with somewhat larger river stone. Have you come up with another option? thank you.
Sorry, Karl. My river rock remains refuse riddled.
Brit Gagne thank you.
@@familyofgeniuses I've tried the leaf blower, but it's not powerful enough to dislodge the large rocks enough for debris caught under them to move, but too powerful to not kick up the smaller rocks and leave bare spots.
This is exactly what i did before i watch this... Lol 😆... Good job...
Works perfectly!
So glad this method works for you. Thanks for the feedback.
Thank you .
Gorilla wagon and you can put a ton of rock mulch in and take it anywhere,, pull the lever and dump. done.
Rocks and gardens really don't go together in my opinion. No offense. I've been battling "decorative" gravel for 20 years on my property. If I were to start a landscaping school: lesson #1: don't add stones anywhere on your property.
understandable, but i happen to live in a place where hardscaping like this is pretty much necessary in order to combat an insane dry season (where little to no ground cover can grow) and then a monsoon season (where runoff is a huge issue), this hardscaping is a really great way to establish proper drainage where you don’t want flooding and water damage. i wouldn’t recommend it if you live in a place that has all four seasons, or a rental property where it’ll be someone else’s problem to remove all the rocks later, in that case, stepping stones or pavers would be ideal.
Get a leaf blower. Also wasn't that a driveway?
Nice! A wheel barrow would be helpful here.
If the mesh was angled at 45 degrees and a bit longer, could you shovel the gravel onto it and as it rolls off into a bin the dusts falls onto a tarp. Just to save your back.