Soil amendments for sandy soil

[71GTO]

Overall my soil is sandy, some areas have more of a topsoil layer then others. My property had a lot of pine trees at one time. The soil is pretty light all over. You can poke a 10 inch long screw driver down into the ground no problem and keep going. There is one corner in particular that is like dust. It was pretty baron even weeds won't grow there when we moved in. I have followed the recommendations of this site and have a lot of improvement all over, but I can see this corner is slowly dying out. I think its is drying out a lot quicker than the rest of the yard. Nest year I will do a soil test on just this area, but for now are there any recommendations on something like compost I can add to maybe get to a little more like top soil over time?

[Masbustelo]

Why not just add a few inches of top soil? Not all at once, but over a few months time. Or do the same with compost?

[andy10917]

Other than hiding the problem, "just add topsoil" is not a great idea, IMHO. The demarcation between topsoil and sand is called a horizon, and the issues of horizons are often worse than the problem that is now hiding. "If I can't see it, it isn't there" isn't a great long-term approach.

[71GTO]

I'd also add that, I really don't want to add inches of top soil since this spot is actually a small hill/high spot of my yard and I'd hate to make it even higher. Would light spreading out some compost or other organics also with continued best practices help over time?

[bpgreen]

For years, my standard response has been *Did you submit a soil test?"

Until now, I've always felt a little hypocritical. But I finally submitted a sample.

Do it. You stunt regret it,.

[71GTO]

I have been getting soil samples for the front and back yards since I found this site and I take the multiple samples and mix together from each yard. I think next year though I will do a sample from only this spot to see whats going on.

[spectrum1c]

I essentially live on a sand bar, so we have very sandy soil. Spent a small fortune adding top soil to most of my yard, which in hindsight was wasted money. Money would have been much better spent on adding irrigation from the start (which we ended up doing anyways). From what I've learned, the finer particle in the top soil will eventually filter down out of the topsoil, essentially making it much more sandy anyways. Better solution is to add compost (roto- till it in if possible) and irrigation if practical in your situation. This is the route one of my friends went and her lawn is beautiful with very little maintenance needed. The compost essentially acts like a sponge to hold moisture and nutrients in the soil longer rather than letting them sink below the grass roots to quickly. As an added bonus, the organic matter has a neutralizing effect on your soil's PH.
If you are not adding irrigation, definitely consider an all tall rescue lawn as they can grow roots up to 5 feet deep

[mobiledynamics]

Does compost - OM help ? Have tried that in thinking it would help retain moisture but seems like everything just seems to sink into the sand

[andy10917]

What is it that you though it would do?

[mobiledynamics]

I was -hoping-that the compost would act as a slight -mulch- ontop of the top of the turn and not-settle- into the sandy soil so quick, for better water retention. Obviously that was not the case.

[MorpheusPA]

Unfortunately, unless somebody discovers the formula for tierra prieta, no. Compost will decay off, dug in or laid up top, and pretty quickly, too. It's not very far along in the decay process, all things considered. A few years later, you're more or less back where you started.

Sandy soils allow in tons of oxygen, which also accelerates the decay process. That's a good thing, otherwise the decay is anaerobic and you really don't want that if you dug in the material. Things can become...unfortunate. Very, very unfortunate, particularly if the compost wasn't quite as finished as it should be.

Andy's running an experiment now, but the results aren't in and I can't speak about it since I'm intentionally keeping myself in the dark about it until I can review the data all at once with a jaundiced and more-scientific eye.

So, at least at this instant, you're stuck with your sandy soil...but that's not a problem. Everybody complains about their (sandy, silty, loamy, clay) soil. Please note I just covered every possible soil type there, because every possible soil type can and does have issues if treated improperly or if it has a poor resource balance.

I started out with a silty soil (about 95% silt, actually) in full collapse with little in the way of any resource and a pH of 4.5. I could have grown lovely blueberries, but that's about it. It took a full year, but the soil's been rebalanced, I feed organically, and everything looks great.

First, get that one-section soil test. Undoubtedly, if something looks bad, you don't have the resource in the soil to grow it. Dumping compost won't fix that, it tends to have a lot of carbon compounds but little else.

Second, for water retention, a one-shot compost addition won't do. You'll probably need to drop half an inch a year to keep it moving into the soil, which the worms will also love. And they'll do yet more work making the soil richer, which will increase your water retention.

Third, if you do have deciduous trees, mow in all your fall leaves. It's free organics. Take them from neighbors. Steal bags of leaves off the street. Browned pine needles are fine (they're not acidic) and can be mowed right in as well.

Fourth, feed the lawn organically. It adds yet more water-holding carbon compounds, encourages the worms, and so on.

[71GTO]

Thanks everyone, I’ve been mulch mowing, mowing in the leaves and this year. I got to the point either the program I could use an organic fert (ocean gro). So far the rest of the yard doesn’t seem as bad as this area. I think there is just something else going on there... I’ll just try to keep it going until I get the soil test.