What would grow in poor sandy soil?
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Question by earthlover7: What would grow in poor sandy soil?
I live in southern California, and I’m working on amending my soil with home grown compost (I won’t use the stuff that comes in bags), but I still have some areas that are the poor sandy soils of this region. I’m going to eventually turn this into a vegetable plot, and I already have native plants. What kinds of vegetables, herbs, or even cover crops might grow well here to start out with?
Thanks for any help.
What do you think? Answer below!
4 Responses to What would grow in poor sandy soil?
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Poor sandy plants…
philian55
October 3, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Hi:
There are a lot of different plants that will grow in sandy soils. you live in a warm climate zone and you could do many tropical specimens. One organic material you could use is organic mushroom compost. It is an organic fertilizer that will last up to one year. You could also start a natural compost for next year. Coffee grinds, banana and orange peels, egg shells and leaves are good starters.
Most herbs love a sandy environment and you could do a combination of culinary and ornamental herbs. Many different evergreen shrubs will also do well in your climate.
I will link you to the tropic section of my website. There are some plants that may work for you. I will also link you to the gallery of plants section, the spices and herb section and the site map. The site map has everything that is on the website. Browse through and see if there is any other information that may help you. The gallery of plants and the spices and herbs section may help you identify more specimens to plant. Good luck to you and have a great day!
Kimberly
http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Tropics.html
http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Gallery.html
http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Spices.html
http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Site.html
Kimberly C
October 3, 2011 at 10:56 pm
You can probably grow anything. With the poor soil you will have to use a little more fertilizer. With the high amount of sand you will have to water more. Till in some compost and your land will be nice. Check the pH with a soil test. Add lime if you need it. If the pH is way off your fertilizer will not be available for the plants.
Carl
October 3, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Veg – all root veg. ( carrots,swede,parsnip etc.) like a sandy soil but might need a little extra feed. Chicken pellets are really good and they are organic
Herbs – chamomile, lavender, thyme, rosemary
Most alpine plants will live ok as their natural habitat is in poor rocky soil. e.g armeria, santolina, saxifrage
kaz
October 4, 2011 at 12:41 am