What grows well in sandy soil: the best plants and tips for improving

Sandy soil, due to its specific characteristics, presents a certain difficulty, both for summer residents and for industrial agricultural producers. Such soil needs enrichment and special processing. It is also important to know what grows well in poor and loose sandy soil, because it is suitable for a narrow range of ornamental, fruit, vegetable and berry plants.

Sandy soil specifics

Sandy soils have certain advantages over others:

High water permeability. Precipitation and water during irrigation penetrate deep into the soil, do not stagnate and do not lead to decay of sensitive roots.
Warms up quickly and stays warm even when it gets cold, like rain.
Such soil is loose, roots grow well in it, it is easy to dig and cultivate.
It's great for growing drought tolerant plants whose roots can't stand too much moisture.

This land also has disadvantages:

She is unable to retain moisture. After watering or rain, it quickly penetrates the ground, but dries out just as quickly.
There are few minerals in it, and when they are added, they are quickly washed out and moved to the lower layers of the soil.
There is very little organic matter in sandy soil, and even with regular application, it decomposes quickly.
Land like this needs regular watering and fertilization.

When taking into account all the specific features and characteristics, it can be successfully used to grow various plants.

Soil Improvement Tips

To make the sands as suitable as possible for growing plants, they must be cultivated and improved. Several methods are used for this.

Claying

The main reason for the low suitability of soil with a predominance of sand is its rapid drying, due to the loose structure and increased permeability. To improve the technical characteristics of the soil and its nutritional value, clay is used - 3 buckets per square meter of land.

One-time claying is not enough, it will have to be repeated several times over several years. It is even better if a layer of fertile “fat” soil, such as black soil, is poured over the ennobled soil.

An important feature of the process is that clay is applied only in a dry powder state. If it has lumps, they will not mix with the sands for a long time, and claying will not give a result.

Claying is a labor-intensive and expensive process, so it can be expensive to carry it out over large areas. It is more suitable for a small summer cottage or garden plot.

Mulching with organic matter

Sandy soil should be given abundant doses of organic fertilizers, mainly semi-decomposed manure, compost or non-acidic peat. This will have to be done often and regularly, especially in the first years of operation of the site. The same applies to the application of mineral fertilizers.

However, a simple addition of organics and minerals is not enough.It is necessary to prevent increased evaporation of moisture from the surface. For this purpose, mulching is used - covering the soil with a layer of organic mulch - fallen leaves, mowed grass, straw chaff, high peat, humus, and so on. Mulch made from inorganic materials is not used for improvement, since the task is not only to protect against moisture evaporation, but also to improve the quality of the soil.

When rotting, organic mulch improves structure, enriches with organic matter and nutrients.

Planting green manure

Sowing green manure plants in early spring gives a bountiful harvest of greens and roots, and digging in autumn enriches with organic matter. In such a soil, the roots and green mass quickly overheat, forming humus and then a humus layer. Various cultivated plants grow well on it.

For these purposes, use peas, annual lupine, vetch-oat mixture and other green manure. At the end of the growing season, the crops are dug up or plowed into the ground.

What can I plant?

With the high quality of agricultural technology, it is possible to grow various varieties of ornamental, fruit, berry and vegetable crops on the improved sands.

Fruit crops

Sandy soils are characterized by increased friability, so the roots penetrate deep into them. But young plantings need intensive care and watering until their roots are well established.

Strawberries and berry bushes grow well on such soils: gooseberries, currants, blackberries, honeysuckle, barberry, chokeberry (chokeberry) and sea buckthorn.

If you want to grow fruit plants - cherries, plums and apple trees - you will have to make a significant amount of humus, other organic matter, nutrient soil and minerals. They will not grow on clean sand.

Ornamental Plants

From ornamental shrubs and trees, conifers and coniferous plants grow well, as well as hawthorn, vesicle, lilac, barberries and gorse. They have powerful long roots that help to gain a foothold in the ground and reach the water. But in the first years after planting, the seedlings will need serious care.

You can also grow flowering plants in such areas, among them the best perennials: lavender, catnip, ash, spurge, anemone, oregano, coreopsis, beetroot, cat's foot, yarrow and many others.

Alpine plants such as stonecrop, styloid phlox, periwinkle, arabis, veronica and so on grow well on similar soils. You can also arrange lawns - English and grass, of course, subject to saturation with organic matter and watering.

Vegetables and herbs

The most obvious vegetation for sandy land is gourds, especially watermelons. They have long powerful roots, strengthen the soil and grow juicy, sweet and sugary.

Also, potatoes and other root crops grow well on the sands: carrots, beets, and also onions. You can grow delicious cucurbits and tomatoes, as well as greens. But all this is possible only with the constant improvement of the composition of sandy soil, the addition of organic and mineral fertilizers, as well as abundant and regular watering.