How to grow grass over shallow rocks or bedrock
Trying to plant a lawn directly over shallow rock formations fails because there is not enough soil depth for roots to establish. Instead of digging down into solid rock, you have to build the ground level up by adding a thick layer of topsoil over the area to create a workable growing medium.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1trying to trim or break down the rock using tools like dexpanDid this help you?
- 2bringing in multiple yards of topsoil to grade a gentle berm over the rockDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Ideally I’d like this to be a grassy area even if it has to be a slight mound, what are my options/ideas? Jackhammer?”source ↗
“If you are dead set on grass you need to stop digging down and start building up.”source ↗