"SteveB" wrote in message
...
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
You'll probably get lots of advice about adding compost, mulch, etc., but in
the long run I'd suggest you're best off to live with the environment you
have and first concentrate on plants that are native to your area. Your big
box stores will carry a lot of plant that are marginal at best for your
specific climate, but a good local nursery, or your local extension service,
can give you information. There's also a booklet, Utah at Home: Landscaping
with Native Plants, from the Utah native plant society, that should have
good info. There's also a list of suggested plants from the University of
Utah at http://www.hort.usu.edu/PlantGuide/index.htm.