soil nightmare

[amberspy]

hi guys
as u no im new to all this
thanks for the advice in my other post ,it did me good
the soil in front garden was great easy to turn over ,but back garden soil is realy hard to break down any idea wot to do to get it to soften up? its to grow plants and flowers not vegs
cheers sha

[Sweepster]

Tackle a little bit at a time, or you'll do yourself a mischief

Add whatever manure, compost etc you can get hold of. Use a garden fork rather than a spade. And try to walk on it as little as possible.

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Amberspry.
Do your difficult soil at the back little by little.Square yard by square yard. Work in your grass clippings, leaves, compost, manure, anything.
It will all come together.
It's not a 2 minute job. It's the long term or nothing.

[Two_Sheds]

If it's too hard to dig (compacted) then give it a good drenching with a hose the night before you try and dig it.

[MrsC]

With a fork and a bit of time

[geoff]

To reinforce what has been said already, dig it over a long period, slowly, and carefully, then add as much organic material/compost as possible
If the soil is really hard you could damage a fork. See if you can beg or borrow a pick - axe or a wrecking bar ( a steel bar about an inch in diameter, 7 feet long and pointed at each end; normally used for demolishing buildings)

[TheDrunkMonk]

Or a mattock. Grrrr.... that's a tool.