Sandy soils
 

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

Sandy soils
 

On Nov 24, 7:18 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
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


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

Sandy soils
 

In article
,
mleblanca wrote:

On Nov 24, 7:18 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
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


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

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.
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars

Sandy soils
 

25 Nov 2007,Billy in
.
au:

In article

,
mleblanca wrote:

On Nov 24, 7:18 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 :-)

Tips appreciated.

Steve


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.

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)

Emilie
NorCal

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.

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.

Sandy soils
 

In article ,
" wrote:

25 Nov 2007,Billy in
.
au:

In article

,
mleblanca wrote:

On Nov 24, 7:18 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 :-)

Tips appreciated.

Steve


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.

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)

Emilie
NorCal

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.

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.

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.
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars

Sandy soils
 

03 Dec 2007,Billy in
.
au:


Will you please support your assertion.


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.

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.

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.

Sandy soils
 

In article ,
" wrote:

03 Dec 2007,Billy in
.
au:


Will you please support your assertion.


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

but enough of an intermediate particle size should prevent that.

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

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

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.

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

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars