jobears33

Hello all...

I have never done yard work or any other type of gardening... EVER! I could really use some advice on where to begin. I have attached two pictures of my yard. Problems that I see are that I have A LOT of rocks in the yard and I don't know what to do with them. Do I leave them in, take them out (and if so, how) etc. As you can see the yard is quite small but I would still like to plant grass (not sure what type). Maybe even start a vegtable garden and possibly plant some fruit trees with enough room for a table and some chairs to enjoy the new garden. Any advice or suggestion on where to start or resources to turn to would be great! Thanks so much. Oh, by the way I live in Hawaii on the island of Oahu (in case you were wondering about the climate). Thanks again!

Thomas W

Building raised beds on top of your existing soil could be a way to avoid dealing with the rocks. Raised beds are wooden frames you place on top of your existing soil and they're filled with new high quality soil good for vegetables. Formulas exist for mixing this yourself. Raised beds look nice and always bring up a good conversation ;-)
If you plan on using your existing soil without raised beds you would have to dig down and remove any rocks to at least a depth of 12 inches (30 cm), or you'll most likely get deformed root vegetables.
Fruit trees need the soil to be prepared in an area as wide as the final size of the crown, which could be quite a large area. Trees can be grown in raised beds too though. I like fruit trees as they provide food and shade if they're planted in the right spot.

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jobears33

Thanks for the advice!