One down, five to go

  There's definitely a learning curve with edging tree basins. I had no idea how deep to cut the trench around the tree, nor how far out to build the trench from the trunk. So, this first one is a beta; the other five will go much quicker. I now have a pretty good idea how damp this clay soil has to be to make cutting the trench with a typical railroad pickax easy. I also know that my little pickax with its 24-inch handle was not up to the job; it became back-breaking to bend over far enough to hack away at the hardpan. That's it then: 1) fill the basin with water twice, then let it drain overnight; 2) the next morning, using the pointed end of the pickax, draw and cut a narrow trench around the outer edge of the existing basin; 3) after the soil dries, set a circle of plastic edging in the trench; and 4) using a hoe, backfill the soil around the outside of the plastic edging, bringing it to the bottom of the upper rolled edge of the plastic, and lightly pack.