Make gardening easier with a soil sifter!

Native soil here in the desert southwest presents some special challenges. From removing rocks and gravel to combating Bermuda grass, a soil sifter makes preparing garden beds much easier. Soil sifters are also great for grading compost to the desired fineness.

Unfortunately, many soil sifter designs are cumbersome and tiring to use. A sifter full of soil is heavy and difficult to shake. I have developed a sifter design that is easy to build, inexpensive, and very easy to use. It sets atop my wheelbarrow putting it at a convenient height. The wheelbarrow catches the sifted soil. Wheels on the sifter make shaking the soil through the mesh a breeze! With only one sifter and hardware cloth with various size openings, I can sift my soil or compost to any fineness.

The exact amount of lumber needed depends on the dimensions of your wheelbarrow. You may need to adjust the board feet listed.

Materials: (3) 2″ x 4″ x 8′ boards (3) 1″ x 2″ x 8′ boards (16) 3″ screws (I used drywall screws) (22) 2″ screws (I used drywall screws) (4) fixed wheel casters 1/2″ hardware cloth (I used 24″ wide) Additional hardware cloth with openings of desired size

In the video, I show how to construct the support frame and sifter. The sifter has 1/2″ hardware cloth attached. For finer screening, cut a piece of 1/4″ hardware cloth to fit inside the sifter. For finer screening, use a finer mesh.

I hope you enjoy the video. (Click here to view.)

Happy gardening!