If you enjoy working to make your yard beautiful, buying a sifting screen can be a worthwhile investment to help you in a variety of different ways. Sifting screens can have several different designs, but they're often simple -- a basic frame made of wood or metal and a metal screen inside the frame. The size of the screen can vary from small opening similar to a screen door to larger openings more reminiscent of chain-link fence. For applications around your yard, it's best to buy a sifting screen with moderate-sized holes. Here are some ways that it can make your life easier.

Sorting Garden Dirt

Whether you're turning over the dirt in your garden at the start of the growing season or building a new garden in a center of your yard, it's beneficial to have a sifting screen. Set the screen on top of a wheelbarrow and dump shovel loads of dirt onto the screen. Either shake the screen manually with a partner or use your shovel to move the dirt around the screen -- this process will catch grass, weeds and rocks on top of the screen and leave you with a clean load of dirt in the wheelbarrow, which you can then use for your garden.

Sorting Compost Materials

Adding compost to your vegetable or flower garden can improve the quality of the earth, but you don't want large items interfering with the growth of plants. Again, set the screen on your wheelbarrow and position it close to your compost. Scoop some loads out of the bottom of the compost bin, place them on the screen and work them around with the shovel. This process will allow the fine material to filter through the screen and into the wheelbarrow, while larger items can either be placed back in the top of the compost to further break down or discarded.

Sorting Rocks

Buying rocks for a garden path or a rustic patio can increase the visual appeal of your yard. While many garden centers sell rocks in specific sizes, you can often get miscellaneous rocks at affordable rates. If you want to be sure that the rocks you use for your project have a fairly uniform size, your sifting screen will be a valuable ally. Once again mounted on your wheelbarrow, the screen will allow you to capture larger rocks that you wish to use for a path, for example, and let the smaller pieces of gravel filter into the wheelbarrow to save for another project.

For sifting screens, contact a company such as Midwestern Industries Inc.