Hi all,

I have a problem. I have got some really sandy soil at the back of my garden. Its difficults even to fork it over. Howver on the other side I have some really clay soil.

I was wondering what would be the best way to amend this sandy soil. What if i were to mix in some clay soil? it would help with moisture retention?

PS i dont have access to any horse and cow manure

Thanks for the help

In article m,
dommy writes:
|
| I have a problem. I have got some really sandy soil at the back of my
| garden. Its difficults even to fork it over. Howver on the other side I
| have some really clay soil.
|
| I was wondering what would be the best way to amend this sandy soil.
| What if i were to mix in some clay soil? it would help with moisture
| retention?
|
| PS i dont have access to any horse and cow manure

Absolutely. I would recommend swapping as much of the two soils,
and then digging them in, as you have the energy for. It will make
BOTH soils more productive!

Also, start a compost heap, of the old-fashioned variety. You want
to dig in as much fibrous (partially composted material) as you can,
because it will aid water retention in sand and drainage in clay.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in message ...
In article m,
dommy writes:
|
| I have a problem. I have got some really sandy soil at the back of my
| garden. Its difficults even to fork it over. Howver on the other side I
| have some really clay soil.
|
| I was wondering what would be the best way to amend this sandy soil.
| What if i were to mix in some clay soil? it would help with moisture
| retention?
|
| PS i dont have access to any horse and cow manure

Absolutely. I would recommend swapping as much of the two soils,
and then digging them in, as you have the energy for. It will make
BOTH soils more productive!

Also, start a compost heap, of the old-fashioned variety. You want
to dig in as much fibrous (partially composted material) as you can,
because it will aid water retention in sand and drainage in clay.

If you happen to be near the right kind of coast, composted seaweed is
great for both soils.

Mike.

"dommy" wrote in message
s.com...
Hi all,

I have a problem. I have got some really sandy soil at the back of my
garden. Its difficults even to fork it over. Howver on the other side I
have some really clay soil.

I was wondering what would be the best way to amend this sandy soil.
What if i were to mix in some clay soil? it would help with moisture
retention?

PS i dont have access to any horse and cow manure

Thanks for the help
--
dommy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk


Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost you can
gather

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost you can
gather

A good source of composting material is from your local greengrocer, who
will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.

There's often some usable stuff thrown in if you can be bothered to fish
it out!

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

Rusty Hinge wrote in
:

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost
you can gather

A good source of composting material is from your local greengrocer,
who will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.


Lawn mowings and hedge shreddings are good too. Pile 'em on in layers.

Victoria

"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
.206...
Rusty Hinge wrote in
:

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost
you can gather

A good source of composting material is from your local greengrocer,
who will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.


Lawn mowings and hedge shreddings are good too. Pile 'em on in layers.

Victoria

Some breweries will be happy to deliver lorry loads of spent hops for free
Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage for
free
Phone livery stables and riding stables see if you can collect horse manure
Timber yards or workshops may have loads of sawdust to give away
The posibilities are endless all you need is to ask and then pile it in

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

\snip\
Phone livery stables and riding stables see if you can collect horse manure
Timber yards or workshops may have loads of sawdust to give away
The posibilities are endless all you need is to ask and then pile it in

But beware of sawdust if you are averse to fungi appearing......

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 21:14:21 +0000 (UTC), "bnd777"
wrote:


"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
8.206...
Rusty Hinge wrote in
:

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost
you can gather

A good source of composting material is from your local greengrocer,
who will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.


Lawn mowings and hedge shreddings are good too. Pile 'em on in layers.

Victoria

Some breweries will be happy to deliver lorry loads of spent hops for free
Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.


--
Martin

The message
from Rusty Hinge contains these words:

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

\snip\
Phone livery stables and riding stables see if you can collect horse
manure
Timber yards or workshops may have loads of sawdust to give away
The posibilities are endless all you need is to ask and then pile it in

But beware of sawdust if you are averse to fungi appearing......

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

Most commercial sawmills will sell the dust nowadays. To be honest
piling a load of sawdust on your land will tie up nitrogen as it
decomposes. There`s better solutions than sawdust imho.

--
email farmer chris on
Please don`t use as it`s a spam haven.

Rusty Hinge wrote in message ...
[...]
But beware of sawdust if you are averse to fungi appearing......

And it needs to be completely rotted before it goes in: wood needs a
lot of nitrogen to rot, and will take it out of your soil, which
doesn't seem to have much in the first place. If the stables are
mucked out very often, there may not be enough dung and urine to do
the job without a bought-in nitrogen source.

Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
Rusty Hinge wrote in message
...
[...]
But beware of sawdust if you are averse to fungi appearing......

And it needs to be completely rotted before it goes in: wood needs a
lot of nitrogen to rot, and will take it out of your soil, which
doesn't seem to have much in the first place. If the stables are
mucked out very often, there may not be enough dung and urine to do
the job without a bought-in nitrogen source.

What's wrong with that? Ultimately you get the benefit of this "investment"
in nitrogenous fertiliser. Besides, pee is free.

Franz

Mike.

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 21:14:21 +0000 (UTC), "bnd777"
wrote:


"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
8.206...
Rusty Hinge wrote in
:

The message
from "bnd777" contains these words:

Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and compost
you can gather

A good source of composting material is from your local greengrocer,
who will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.


Lawn mowings and hedge shreddings are good too. Pile 'em on in layers.

Victoria

Some breweries will be happy to deliver lorry loads of spent hops for
free
Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.

Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the Bagshot Sand
area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They charged,
if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until the
blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the stuff.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
:
: "martin" wrote in message
: ...
: On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 21:14:21 +0000 (UTC), "bnd777"
: wrote:
:
:
: "Victoria Clare" wrote in message
: 8.206...
: Rusty Hinge wrote in
: :
:
: The message
: from "bnd777" contains these words:
:
: Mixing it sounds a great idea plus add in all the manure and
compost
: you can gather
:
: A good source of composting material is from your local
greengrocer,
: who will probably let you have loads of sad, off or waste stuff.
:
:
: Lawn mowings and hedge shreddings are good too. Pile 'em on in
layers.
:
: Victoria
:
: Some breweries will be happy to deliver lorry loads of spent hops for
: free
: Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage
for
: free
: I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
: I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
: concentration of heavy metals in it.
:
: Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the Bagshot
Sand
: area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
: excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They charged,
: if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until the
: blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
: project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the stuff.
:
: Franz

Years ago Thames Water used to sell bags of fertiliser from our local sewage
works which was excellent but they stopped doing it for some reason. It was
always great for tomatoes :O)

K

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 07:41:55 +0100, Christopher Norton wrote:

... piling a load of sawdust on your land will tie up nitrogen as it
decomposes. There`s better solutions than sawdust imho.

If you mix a nitrogenous fertilizer into the sawdust, you can put
sawdust on the garden without depleting soil nitrogen.

Unfortunately, I indavertently sold the one reference book which
gave the proper application rate, so I can't be more specific.
Perhaps you can find info on the web.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada