Have dug out a 36' long by 3' wide by 1' deep trench. Still have a foot deper to dig but I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far.
The trench runs north and south with the sod piled on the east side and the first foot of dirt that contains roots is on the west side. The final foot of dirt whic doesn't have roots in it I'll toss on the east side over and past the sod.
When the trench is deep enough, I'll lay down cardboard at the bottom, cover that with branches cut to fit and mulched leaves until I reach ground level. On top of that will be the sod followed by the dirt that has the roots in it of which I'll try as much as possible to remove first. That will be covered with the root free dirt mixed with compost and that will be covered with mulched leaves.
Before I put the sod and dirt back, I'll build a perimeter frame out of old cement blocks of which I can have as many as I need for nothing but the time and labor involved in getting them. As the mound will be at least 2' high, I'll need 3 rows of 8" block. About 224 blocks. Or maybe I'll just dig down another 8 inches cutting the block I need by about 1/3.
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