How to Dig Holes for Trees in Hard Soil Without a Jackhammer

Planting trees requires digging a hole for the tree roots so that the root ball is properly positioned and the roots have adequate room to spread. Hard and compact soils such as clay provide a challenge to digging a hole. Instead of resorting to a jackhammer to break up the hard soil, a mattock, a common gardening and landscape tool, can get the job done. A mattock features a metal head with a pick on one end and a flat blade on the other. A handle fits through an eye hole in the center of the mattock. The handle is held at the end opposite the head when digging in hard ground.

Gloves
Safety glasses
Mattock

Instructions

- 1
  Hold the mattock near the end of the handle opposite the head of the tool. Hold the handle so that the pointed pick end of the mattock impacts the hard ground.
- 2
  Raise the mattock head up and then lower it quickly into the hard soil. Repeat the process so that the pick end of the mattock penetrates and breaks up the hard soil.
- 3
  Turn the mattock so the flattened end now contacts the ground when the tool is swung down. Use shorter movement with the flat end of the mattock to pull pieces of loosened dirt out of the hole.
- 4
  Pry out rocks and chop through small roots with the flat end of the mattock. Continue to alternate between the pick and flat end of the mattock to dig a hole large enough for the tree you are planting.

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