The equivalent of a giant sieve

I have been digging my garden, digging up all the weeds and doing my best to get the roots up where possible. Now, as most of it is done I'm left with weeds I can dispose of but mud full of roots that I'm worried will just grow once more.
To make the task easier for myself I piled the mud into mounds as can be seen in the picture below. Originally it was all being put into a single collection but my bad back soon put an end to all that carrying.



As you can see the mud is riddled with roots so I ask you, what can I do to get the roots out and leave me with just nice, 'clean' soil all ready for planting? In my mind I see a giant sieve, as in the name of the thread, but that's not really possible, is it?

 

There's no easy way to do this. In this weather, (well up here anyway) most of the soil wouldn't pass through any sort of sieve. Perhaps your best bet is to separate it into smaller piles and use a rake to remove the weed roots.

Not a job I'd fancy!

 

Harrod Horticultural do a giant sieve, so check out their website. I got one for sieving my compost which has stones and giant roots in it (the heap is on a concrete base which I can't do anything about). It works wonderfully.

 

It depends what the roots are HBK.
If they're just annuals they don't matter, they won't grow back.
If they're perennials they will regrow.
I know a lot of people don't like to spray, I don't and only do so if absolutely necessary.
In your case I think I would wait until the weeds started to regrow (probably next spring) and give them a one off spray with Glyphosphate.
It won't harm the soil.

 

Yes, get the soil back where you want it, Add any organic matter you want, use a fork to lift as many roots as you can and then leave it over winter. Whatever isn't killed by winter frosts, will regrow next Spring and you can either spray when it's growing, or manually weed then.

 

Archeologists use a big sieve strung from a frame, like a childs swing.

The frame takes the weight of the soil then they work thru it with a trowel.