Garden soil

CKain(MI) · Jul 8, 2017

I have a pile of sand next to my garden, about 1 cuyd. Left from preparing the base for an above ground pool.
I am thinking about spreading it over my 60' x 30' garden area. My soil here in So. Michigan is quit heavy, of course.
Is there any good reason not to add the sand to this area..

Geo-TH,In · Jul 8, 2017

My garden is about the same size. This spring I hauled in 12 yards yellow sand, 12 yards horse compost. Garden was tilled with a 55 up Massey and 5 ft tiller. Big improvements in my hard clay. Planning on another 12 yards of compost next spring.

kcm.MN · Jul 8, 2017

Sand has been used for a long time in areas of heavy clay. Helps to break up how well the clay can bind together. But, it "can" take a lot. That small amount for your garden size....I doubt you'll even notice a difference, but I bet the plants will enjoy it.

CKain(MI) · Jul 8, 2017

Thanks, It may not be enough to do any good, but I can get rid of this 'pile' !!

Larry EC-OH · Jul 8, 2017

sand plus clay makes concrete!

Add compost instead.

showcrop · Jul 8, 2017

(quoted from post at 16:47:21 07/08/17) sand plus clay makes concrete!

Add compost instead.

Yeah, with a lot of fire under it. Incredible, just incredible.

VicS · Jul 8, 2017

I bet it will help it.

Richard G. · Jul 8, 2017

My Dad used fine cinders and leaves in a heavy clay garden and it worked great.
Richard

jeffcat · Jul 8, 2017

In your garden why don't you dump all of that sand in maybe a 6x6 area and till it in with your clay. Also throw in a b8g heap of compost. Now you have an excelent test bed for plants that like light soils. Taters, onions, carrots, etc. All still have plenty on season left. Will give you a good feel for where you need to go.

kcm.MN · Jul 8, 2017

(quoted from post at 18:28:04 07/08/17) In your garden why don't you dump all of that sand in maybe a 6x6 area and till it in with your clay. Also throw in a b8g heap of compost. Now you have an excelent test bed for plants that like light soils. Taters, onions, carrots, etc. All still have plenty on season left. Will give you a good feel for where you need to go.

...This is why I've never been accused of being a farmer/gardener. My thumb ain't green; it's black.

....Oh c'mon now, git yer minds out of the gutter! It's just melted chocolate bar!! :wink:

Great idea Jeff!! Actually, that would probably work well for many gardens. Some plants like higher ph, some lower. Some like sandy soils, some prefer nice, dark and rich. Only makes sense that with a little work, someone could have several different "zones".

Traditional Farmer · Jul 8, 2017

It'll help some but you probably won't notice the difference,kinda like spitting in the Ocean every little bit helps.

fixerupper · Jul 8, 2017

A good garden needs to be in soil that is a little lighter. Most garden plant's root systems can't penetrate hard soil well. If your garden is in good heavy black soil the sand will help you out. Compost will help it out more than the sand will. Years ago our garden was in low black soil. Good for holding moisture but not good for a garden. Now it's on light sandier soil. Good for the garden plants but if we don't have regular rains I have to water it. It's about 20x50 feet. A couple of years ago I had some extra black soil so I dumped the black on the garden and moldboarded it in. That helped the water holding ability somewhat but the soil was a little tight. Then last fall I spread about a ton (estimated) of composted cattle manure on it and moldboarded it in. This summer the soil is about as soft and loose as I would want it and boy does it grow potatoes! I was joking to a neighbor the spuds will be so big I will have to pick them up one by one. LOL

bcdave · Jul 8, 2017

I hope it works. I have a lot of sand bags that need to be dumped in my garden after the flood. I hope to spread it between the corn rows and rototill it in. Some of the soil is hard like concrete where the water sat for along time.
Dave

OldFarmall450 · Jul 8, 2017

At my house in town we have really tight clay. My neighbor across the street had a big garden and he said he hauled in about 10 or 12 truck loads of sand to mix with his clay. He planted potatoes and carrots and all root crops and had the biggest onion Garden I've seen in a backyard garden.
The city once a year will give you a free truck or trailer load with compost and for several years I went and got a truckload and put it in my garden. The problem was it was made of mostly grass clippings and as hard as I work to keep the weeds out as soon as I put the compost in it was nothing but one solid weed bed. I've started putting my own compost in from refuse of our house

hrRoss · Jul 9, 2017

if you have really tight soil, then you need gypsom, i get mine at menards in 50lb bags, under $5. i sell dry cow manure on the side and people with tight soils thats what i tell them. i have tight soils on my farm and gypsom has really helped

kcm.MN · Jul 9, 2017

As for gypsum, you can also look around or contact some local contractors and ask them to notify you if they will be tearing out a lot of drywall. Could be from flooding, a water line freezing over Winter, renovations, or even the scraps from new construction. Every bit you take is less they have to dispose of. ...Course, in this day and age, they'll probably wanna charge you for saving them money! *lol*

SweetFeet · Jul 9, 2017

We added sand to our garden soil years ago and it helped a lot with the heavy clay.

Later I also worked peat moss into every row before planting.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 9, 2017

ckain(mi),
I make compost out of stump grinding, dirt and wood chips when they grind stumps, grass clippings, leafs, horse poo, sawdust from horse bedding. Keep it wet, pile it up to trap heat while composting. A year later add it to garden. My hard clay is now easy to dig. The longer the wood is in the ground, the more it releases fertilizer and retains moisture. During the summer I make about 6 yards of compost a month.
geo.

JDEM · Jul 9, 2017

After living in northern MI, tip of the lower peninsula and the eastern upper peninsula, I thought the whole state was sand. That is all we have. I trucked in 120 yards of compost from a city 40 miles away just to get the soil to a point where things can grow. Even after that, crops start to wilt if we get four days of no rain - unless we run sprinklers.

We got our compost from the City of Alpena. It is screened and well rotted, and they charge me $25 for a dump-trailer load (4 yards). One down-side is the huge amount of invasive weeds we got from it.

Ivan in Mich · Jul 9, 2017

I wish I had a lot of sand here. Mine is a mix depending on where you go on the property, from some sand to clay to loam and then black swamp mud. I had to fill in a spot for a garden and it would get wet and sticky so I added 2 dump trailer loads of sand and then tilled it to mix it. It came out quite nice.I have one spot here I get my sand and I have a hole about 8 foot deep and 20 foot wide, but this year that is an 8 foot deep pond

Greg1959 · Jul 9, 2017

kcm.MN- I think I'd be kind of afraid of using old tear-
out drywall. Depending on how old the drywall is...it
could have been previously painted with lead based paint
and the lead could leach out into your soil.

Just my opinion. HTH

kcm.MN · Jul 9, 2017

Greg -- Yes, my apologies for not thinking of that. The few places I've lived have been relatively free of ANY lead-based paints. Even this old farmhouse (100+ yrs)didn't have much. Some, but mostly in the trim paints, and only the exterior trim was painted. So had forgotten all about lead.

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