Sandy soils

[SteveB]

We've just returned after being gone for six days. Apparently the wind > blew

> while we were gone. There are new sand dunes in the back yard. The door > threshold was half an inch thick with driven sand. It musta blown like a > big dog. > > I live in Southern Utah, near St. George. We are surrounded by sandstone > and dunes. Beautiful stuff, just sandy. > > We want to cultivate a garden this spring, and to plant trees and plants. > What do we need to do special to help our new plants in this sandy > environment? I want to make a shadecloth barrier for the garden to lessen > the direct sun, and perhaps to help break some of the sand from settling > in > on hard won cultivated soil. > > Tips appreciated. > > Steve > >

[mleblanca]

HI Steve You will want to add organic matter and compost. Dig it in............ And then you add some more.

Use an organic mulch which will also eventually become soil. And it will help hold in the moisture, and help hold the sand in place.

Emilie NorCal

[Billy]

You may want to but some clay as well to add to you garden beds. Good garden soil is 30% - 40% sand, 30% - 40% silt, and 20% - 30% clay. Then you need to add organic materials as Emilie has so wisely indicated.

[Gardñ]

25 Nov 2007,Billy in news: [e-mail]. au:

sounds like the house should've been built on a raised area?

grow sand loving plants and let everyone who's stuck with clay be envious.

dune-holding plants? you might take a look at conditions at the boundaries of the dune area. although, if a boundary is a cliff face, you probably cannot emulate that type of boundary :-)

yeah, that's pretty much the maintenance for your crop areas. for annual mulch, steal autumn leaves from wherever people don't want the leaves. (sidewalks and such, if the leaves don't include a pieces of broken beer bottles)

add mineral based stuff only when its particle size is slightly smaller than that of the existing sand. clay particles are too different from sand. you can mix in fine sand if your sand is medium coarseness.

[Billy]

Will you please support your assertion.

Clay holds water and nutrients and binds the soil. Good soil will encourage bacteria which will exude mucopolysaccharides and further bind the soil together.

Sand > silt > clay and you want them in the quantities indicated above.

[Gardñ]

03 Dec 2007,Billy in news: [e-mail]. au:

sand and clay = adobe.

but enough of an intermediate particle size should prevent that.

besides all this, some plants prefer sand, some prefer clay, etc.

practically speaking, existing grades will be destroyed if you haul in huge amounts of soils (to meet those percentages). you could haul out similar volume of existing soil, but all that hauling gets expen$ive. older houses sometimes have areas with an extra inch+ of soil because someone(s) hauled in some "planting mix" This topping can be successful for a while if the "planting mix" was brought in for shallow planting (usually a sod install).

a similar "technique" that succeeds with some plants is adding a thin layer of gravel at the crown.

[Billy]

and straw, dung or other fibrous materials, which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun.

Hmmmm. If we are talking about landscaping you are completely correct. If we are talking about vegetable gardens, I would be correct.