Rocky soils Rocky soils exist in rocky pinelands of South Florida.
Drainage is rapid through the soil and underlying bedrock down to the water table.
Pineland vegetation is mainly slash pine, saw palmetto, subtropical shrubs, wiregrass, switchgrass and a scattering of oaks and other hardwood trees. Pioneers in the area used these rocky pinelands for housing and farming because of their relatively high elevations. Years later, after the land had been cleared, they used dynamite to blast small holes in the limestone for planting. Rock plowing was introduced in the early 1950s. Rollout from the plow's cut passes beneath the treads of the tractor, crushing the rock slice into small pieces and mixing them with the natural soil components to form new soil.