How to Loosen Up 3 Inches of Dirt

Garden Tiller

• 1

  Adjust the height of the blades. Models will vary, but generally there is a lever near the rear wheels to set the height of the blades. Opposite the lever is a strip of metal containing holes at various heights. Select a hole and insert the hook end of the lever into the hole. Doing this will raise or lower the wheels, which in turn adjusts the blades.

• 2

  Test a patch of ground with the setting you selected. Use a ruler to measure the depth of the soil that has been loosened if you need an exact measurement.

• 3

  Make the necessary adjustments to raise or lower the blades until you achieve a depth of 3 inches.

Garden Hoe and Fork

• 4

  Chop into the ground with a garden hoe. Pull the hoe toward you to loosen the soil. Use a garden fork to loosen dirt when the soil is rocky.

• 5

  Continue to chop or dig into the soil until you reach the desired depth.

• 6

  Break apart large clumps of soil by striking the dirt clumps until the clumps split apart. Remove large rocks that have been brought to the surface.