How Do I Manage A Garden With Sandy Soil?

Do you fertilize your soil frequently?

Did you chose plants tolerant of sandy conditions?

Do you want to plant annuals and perennials in your garden?

Have you adjusted an irrigation system for sandy soil?

Sandy soils don’t hold nutrients well, so you must fertilize them more frequently than other soils. Begin the year by adding a 2-inch layer of compost over the entire soil surface. Once plants are growing well, mulch with as thick a layer as practical of an organic material that breaks down fairly rapidly. Use straw in vegetable and herb gardens and grass clippings in the flower gardens. By midseason, some plants may need a nutritional boost. You can side-dress with more compost, putting a 1 to 2 inches thick layer around plants after you pull back the mulch. You can also give them a liquid boost by watering in a solution of liquid seaweed and fish emulsion, mixed as directed on their bottles.

Many plants thrive in sandy soils. Because these soils tend to be dry, you can be sure that any desert plants will do well in your garden. If you want to include plants outside this category, look at the plant's root system. In general, plants with a deep taproot survive droughts and dry soils better than those with a fibrous root system. Some annuals and perennials that are tolerant to sandy conditions are yarrow, wormwood, butterfly weed, aster, bachelor's buttons, tickseed, calliopsis, rose of Sharon, torch lily, tree mallow, sea lavender, Russian sage, rose moss, lavender cotton, stonecrop, nasturtium, verbena, and yucca.

Many plants thrive in sandy soils. Because these soils tend to be dry, you can be sure that any desert plants will do well in your garden. If you want to include plants outside this category, look at the plant's root system. In general, plants with a deep taproot survive droughts and dry soils better than those with a fibrous root system. Some trees and shrubs that are tolerant to sandy conditions are barberry, butterfly bush, heather, quince, sun rose, smokebush, autumn olive, honey locust, witch hazel, juniper, privet, bayberry, pine, cinquefoil, rugosa rose, and Adam's needle.

Sandy soil drains quickly and water coming into it tends to move almost straight down through the soil. Most drip irrigation systems have emitters spaced for loamy—soil. You cannot change the placement of holes in a drip line, but you can modify the way you use it. For example, if the company recommends placing two drip lines on a 4-foot wide bed, consider using at least three, possibly four, lines. You will need to place a line by every row of plants.

For tillage to be effective on sandy soils, it has to be done at the earliest possible time after irrigation or rainfall when the evaporation rate is still high. Minimum tillage, maintenance of a cover crop, strip cropping, crop rotations, control of grazing, and establishment of shelterbelts and windbreaks are some of the protective measures to counter the high susceptibility of sandy soils to erosion. Also, consider afforestation with selected trees and shrubs as a complementary measure that should follow stabilization of dunes.