Digging a hole

There's a wee patch of scraggly grass between my patio and the east fence that's about three feet wide and maybe 8 feet long. It would be a lovely place to plant a decorative border of some sort. It gets plenty of sun. It gets some runoff from my neighbor's yard, which reduces how much water I have to do. I see it whenever I look out the kitchen window.

As I have tried to dig up the patch of scraggly grass, I have discovered some things:

1. Scraggly grass forms mats, which are somewhat difficult to unearth.
2. Something has spread a dense weaving of woody roots just under the grass layer.
3. Several trees have spread thick roots into that corner of my yard.
4. The dirt is only about 8 inches thick.
5. Under the dirt is a rock-hard layer of clay and rock.
6. The reason there's a quarry less than a mile away is that there are lots and lots of rocks around here.

So far, using a pickaxe, a shovel, and a small pruning saw, I have dug a hole about 8 inches deep, 2 feet wide, and 3 feet long. I have uprooted a large quantity of scraggly grass and an equally large quantity of small, woody roots. I have sawn through 3 substantial roots (the largest about 3" in diameter). And I have inhaled possibly my weight in dust.

This is fun?