"Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond wrote in message
...

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "ClarissaGG" contains these words:


Trouble is, now that the matted grass and weeds have been removed, I
see
that the soil is incredibly stony.
__________________________
We used to reseed on a regular basis~ by the acre. The soil was
exceptionally stony but these were only ever removed if they unseated the
tractor driver or tripped up the horse!! Stones are better than a
fertiliser
in that they retain moisture beneath them and provide sites for worms.
After cultivation and seeding a gentle rolling simply pushed the
stones
beneath first cut level. After a few weeks the action of worms covered
every
stone. At three years the turf could be stripped at 2" with not a single
stone involved~only the finest soil.
Archaeologists have to dig deeply for ancient remains~~ If stones
rose
to the surface they would need ladders!
If we did ever have to cultivate deeply, then stones were a problem
for
surface crops that needed to be weeded and women were employed at one or
two
pence per hour to remove them and build up the banks.~~ So my father told
me!!
Best Wishes Brian.


Wow, lots of diverse opinion. I'm being thrown from gloom to relief then
back again.

I can't see any possibility of removing the stones, to be honest. It's a
pretty big area and we don't have anyone to help us. I can envisage raking a
few barrow loads off, but I can't imagine us doing this indefinitely because
the weeds are going to start coming up, and then we'll be back where we
started.