Our front lawn has never really been a lawn... it's compacted hard dirt, and where we parked our RV until we sold it a couple months ago. It looks like shit, and I hate it. My Mom is a Master Gardener, so she decided to help us out with making something out of this dead space. She got a lovely tree. We tried to plant it. The two of us dug a hole (yes, my 73-year old mother can still swing a mean mattock!) about two feet deep, and filled it with water to check drainage. An hour later, when NONE of the water had soaked in, we realized we had a different problem to solve first: soil rehabilitation. So I have been swinging the mattock this week and digging up the 16x30 hard-pan dry surface in preparation for getting a load of mulch and soil delivered. We will leave that for a year and a half, or so, to let it rot and compost and rejuvenate the soil. Then we will plant shrubs and ground cover and a couple of trees, and put in two rows of pavers I can park my car on, nestled into the plants. It'll be wonderful. In three years. - In the mean time, I've been swinging the mattock in the back yard, as well, digging out a small hillside to build a patio. Under the lawn, the ground is loose and sandy... and full of rounded river rocks the size of two fists! So using a shovel in there is almost impossible. So I swing the mattock for 10 minutes or so, then rake out the debris with a metal rake for 20 minutes. Repeat. I've got 60 concrete blocks ordered for delivery, which I am going to use to build the retaining wall, and I've already got about 110 flat square pavers for the main patio surface. Except I just checked the delivery date for my concrete block... and it is due the END OF SEPTEMBER. (Literally checked the status about 15 minutes ago.) Shit.