!44: Garden Sand - Organic Soil Amendments For a Healthy Structure

!±8± Garden Sand - Organic Soil Amendments For a Healthy Structure

Sand is a loose soil with comparatively large pore space and these particle tend not to retain moisture or nutrients well for a good healthy plant growth. Having a sand type soil doesn't mean that you can't have a successful organic garden.

Amendments like organic matter and minerals can be added to improve the structure of your gardens soil to turn your sandy garden soil into organic rich humus type loam, you will needed to add plenty of organic material. The organic matter will improve the soils structure while adding nutrients needed for your plants to thrive.

Organic matter from your yard can consist of materials like grass clippings,plants matter, leaves, manures, and weeds, along with kitchen scraps like coffee grounds, egg shells and fruit or vegetable peelings. This is what will improve the structure of sandy garden soil by filling in the pore spaces between the granular particles, which in return will increase the water and nutrients to be retained for the plants to benefit from and thrive.

Composting is the best method to use when collecting the organic matter needed for your gardens. The system you choose can be as simple as a pile to more complex tumbler systems purchased fro garden centers. Whichever way you choose, you can produce a rich humus material that is full of nutrients for your plants to benefit from.

Depending on the type of garden you have, you can spread o 3 to 4 inch layer of compost on the soil and mix it into the sand and the place another 4 inch layer on top and plant directly into the compost. This same process should be done at the beginning of each gardening season. It not only directly improves the gardens soil, but it adds the organic matter needed to keep the soils food web replenished to keep alive the microorganisms that work hard in your garden turning this matter into nutrients for your plants to benefit from.

Testing of your gardens soil is also very important when changing the soils structure to know what the pH level of acidity and alkalinity of the soil is. Most plants like a pH level between 6 and 7 on a scale of 0 to 14. A pH that is less than 7 is considered to be acidic, the lower the number the more acidic it is. Adding agricultural lime will raise the ph level and make the soil sweeter less acidic. A pH that is higher than 7 means the soil is alkaline, adding sulfur to the soil will reduce the pH level.

There are many organic fertilizers that can also be added to your gardens soil and the minerals can be purchased separately.Here are some useful tips when adding or purchasing fertilizer if needed. A complete fertilizer consists of 3 major elements - nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Nitrogen is what encourages leaf growth, and phosphorus and potassium assist in flowering and fruit production.