Shoveling River Rock or The Slow And Painful Demise Of My Shoulders

One of the many head-scratching aspects of our house is the parking setup. The driveway is huge. We have room for 17 cars but apparently that was not enough for the previous owner. So he converted the front of the yard into additional parking spots. For months we puzzled over what to do with this 50'x23' space between the rest of the yard and the sidewalk. Because of the way the yard is laid out grass would not work unless we wanted to have two separate front lawns. Take a look at this photo and you will understand why.

See all that wasted space? (Top left)

Not only is there a raised berm, there is also a concrete curb separating the yard from the former parking area. At last we decided to convert the space into a rock garden. But creating the rock garden will require a huge amount of work. The house is currently surrounded on three sides by river rock. Approximately 20 cubic yards of it.

The previous owners, not to mention the renters before them, did nothing to care for the rock. By the time we purchased the house last year the rock garden was full of dirt and leaves. On Labor Day Luke and I were finally ready to start moving rock, but first we had to come up with a system for cleaning out all the crap. After only one trail version we built the following cleaner:
We cut the center out of an old door and stapled in 1" x 1/2" fencing. As the rock rolls down the screen the dirt and leaves fall through the fencing leaving only clean rock in the wheelbarrow below. We are using the leftover dirt to level out low spots in the yard before we till it up and plant seed. It is a slow process that takes it's toll on the back and shoulders. But all the rock is finally moved. The yard is looking a little bare now. We still need to bring in some top soil to level everything out before we till and seed.