Our "soil" is called decomposed granite. The ground substance most abundant here is not really soil and it is not even dirt. It's crumpled rock, with very small, small, and large pieces. When trying to set rocks for a walk, such as the one around our hot tub in the image above, I found I had to remove small and large pieces of granite or the flat rocks I was trying to place would wobble and I could not get them to be firm in the ground. This was certainly tedious trying to do it by hand.

I could have purchased sand and set the flat rocks in a bed of smooth sand. But, I am a frugal gardener and I desired a cheaper solution that I could use in other projects I had in mind.

My dear husband came to my rescue. He constructed the soil screen you see above so I could sift the decomposed granite and remove any pieces over 1/4 inch and most organic matter. This section contains the materials that my husband used and construction details.

The soil screen measures 20 inches wide, 26 inches long, and 3.75 inches high. The handle cutouts are 5 inches long and 1 inch high.

The soil screen is large enough that I can lean it on a rock or railroad tie, as show in the image, and shovel decomposed granite into it for a larger amount of sifting. And, it is small enough that I can hold it up and shake it for when I sift compost onto existing rock gardens.

You may want a smaller screen if you plan to do mostly shake shifting as soil, compost, and other substances can get fairly heavy. If you plan to use the soil screen for larger projects when you will be shoveling soil, rocks, etc. onto the screen for sifting, you may desire a larger soil screen. This one works just right for me.

note: the hot tub cover has a temporary repair that I made after a bear, for reasons known only to the bear, tried to get into the hot tub and chewed the corner off the cover.