Ax01
magikarp is da best!
Ok so i've dug up alotta rocks but i gotta wash them somewhat before using them in the pond. i found this method works best for me.
1) i put the dirty in what i think is a 10 gallon plastic planter. there are (plenty big) holes/openings at the bottom for drainage of course and the walls are like 16 inches tall. the tall walls are important to help hold the smaller rocks in and prevent them from flying and becoming ricochet. i put in enough to cover the bottom but don't put in too much they all won't get some spray of water.
Before
2) then i use a power washer / a flat spray nozzle to hose them down. wow! very pretty rocks! who knew there was such a variety of rocks in my backyard. i see igneous, granite, quartz, etc. the big one and the triangle one are green. my camera phone or the angle can't quite capture their nice green colors.
After
a slightly closer look.
3) i forgot to take a pix, but to my strong side (right), is a 5 gallon bucket filled up halfway w/ water that i use to dunk rocks in for extra rinsing before i throw them in the clean rock pile.
4) eventually even w/ drainage in the planter, some muck will build up and that is hosed down and away. repeat these steps to clean and wash some rocks.
here's a pix of some smaller rocks. i think i missed a few spots and will need to do a lil extra rinsing with some in this pile.
some other methods i tried but were not effective for me were
-- soaking the rocks - standing water doesn't do much. some dirt does get knocked off from pouring the water on to the rocks, but it's all still mostly dirty. the dirt that come off, creates muck and mud at the bottom of a bucket.
-- scrubbing the rocks - after soaking the rocks and that didn't do anything, i tried to use a hand scrub brush. this was ridiculous b/c A) it's alot of hard work to scrub individual rocks and B) they still were not very clean. maybe i didn't try hard enough or maybe it was b/c i didn't use soap but i gave up quickly.
1) i put the dirty in what i think is a 10 gallon plastic planter. there are (plenty big) holes/openings at the bottom for drainage of course and the walls are like 16 inches tall. the tall walls are important to help hold the smaller rocks in and prevent them from flying and becoming ricochet. i put in enough to cover the bottom but don't put in too much they all won't get some spray of water.
Before
2) then i use a power washer / a flat spray nozzle to hose them down. wow! very pretty rocks! who knew there was such a variety of rocks in my backyard. i see igneous, granite, quartz, etc. the big one and the triangle one are green. my camera phone or the angle can't quite capture their nice green colors.
After
a slightly closer look.
3) i forgot to take a pix, but to my strong side (right), is a 5 gallon bucket filled up halfway w/ water that i use to dunk rocks in for extra rinsing before i throw them in the clean rock pile.
4) eventually even w/ drainage in the planter, some muck will build up and that is hosed down and away. repeat these steps to clean and wash some rocks.
here's a pix of some smaller rocks. i think i missed a few spots and will need to do a lil extra rinsing with some in this pile.
some other methods i tried but were not effective for me were
-- soaking the rocks - standing water doesn't do much. some dirt does get knocked off from pouring the water on to the rocks, but it's all still mostly dirty. the dirt that come off, creates muck and mud at the bottom of a bucket.
-- scrubbing the rocks - after soaking the rocks and that didn't do anything, i tried to use a hand scrub brush. this was ridiculous b/c A) it's alot of hard work to scrub individual rocks and B) they still were not very clean. maybe i didn't try hard enough or maybe it was b/c i didn't use soap but i gave up quickly.
