If your soil is like mine, digging a hole for a new plant is a major chore. I once spent a week with a geologist's pick chipping out a hole in the caliche big enough to plant a single tree. The project was closer to hard rock mining than gardening. Then I discovered the water drill, an indispensable tool for gardeners and other folks who want to poke holes in the caliche in this area.

I figured out the design by myself several years ago and thought I was on my way to entrepreneurial fame and fortune until I went to the hardware store to buy the parts. After I listed the first couple or three parts I needed, the clerk said, "Building' a water drill, huh?" and then went on to suggest the rest of the parts required, including some I hadn't thought of. Well, so much for fame and fortune.

Although water drills are widely used in this area, I don't think you can buy a manufactured one. The closest thing would be one of those flimsy "root feeders", but they're just not in the same league. A water drill is simply something you have to design and build yourself. There are several variations in the design, but the principles are the same. Here is the one I used.

Mine is shaped like a T with a hose coupling on one end of the top of the T, a cap on the other end, and a valve at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal axes. I used three-quarter inch water pipe throughout but put a reducer on the business end to cut the pipe diameter to three-eighths inch and give a higher velocity to the water. All the parts (one four foot length of pipe threaded at both ends, two one foot lengths of pipe threaded at both ends, a cap, a "T" fitting, a valve, a reducer, a one inch length of three-eighths inch pipe threaded on one end, and a hose fitting) cost less than twenty dollars.

The drill is easy to use. Hook it to a garden hose, make sure the valve on the drill is closed and turn on the water at the faucet. Stick the business end into the ground and slowly open the valve on the drill. I stress the word "slowly" because the drills have a nasty habit of showering you in muddy water if you turn them on too fast.

Sometimes it's necessary to push on the drill a bit and twist and jiggle it back and forth to get it moving, but it has never failed me. About the only thing it won't penetrate is a rock. If you are digging a planting hole or post hole, you probably ought to drill the holes with the water drill several hours before you intend to finish the digging with the shovel. I usually bore the holes with the drill the day before so that the ground has time to soften up before I go to work with the shovel or post hole digger. Happy digging!