Gardening in the Sandy LI Soil (Huntington, Stony Brook: gardens, move, beach)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Help! I'm not a great gardener, but one thing that drives me crazy is the sand.
I put soil, peetmoss & mulch down only to have sand come up and (in it's contrast with the mulch) it is ugly.
Do I have to remove all loose dirt/mulch/etc. from previous years and put down new soil? I can't imagine doing that, but my nice gardens always end up looking horrible.
You can simply use native plants, such as heathers, like beach and pine barrens, which do very well. Also so do Pitch Pines and Blackjack Oaks. Carpets of Reindeer and British Soldier lichen add lots of color too.
As far as flowers, the Aster family does quite well on LI.
It's taken time, but I've had luck with putting down some compost from my pile out back and a heavy layer of mulch every few years. Eventually the mulch breaks down into good soil too, so when it's gone, I do another dressing of compost and more mulch. I've now got pretty good soil in the flower gardens.
It's taken time, but I've had luck with putting down some compost from my pile out back and a heavy layer of mulch every few years. Eventually the mulch breaks down into good soil too, so when it's gone, I do another dressing of compost and more mulch. I've now got pretty good soil in the flower gardens.
As you add this every year, doesn't the old stuff get sandy and dried out? Do you remove it or just mix the new with the old?
You can simply use native plants, such as heathers, like beach and pine barrens, which do very well. Also so do Pitch Pines and Blackjack Oaks. Carpets of Reindeer and British Soldier lichen add lots of color too.
As far as flowers, the Aster family does quite well on LI.
Yikes - you're speaking Greek to me!
I'll have to google
Every fall, I take all of my leaf droppings that I shred and dump them in my beds. In the spring, I turn everything over and let the worms do their job. Everything grows great in my yard and the soil is black.
Rhododendrons seemed to thrive out in the sandy soil in Stony Brook, and here in Huntington, not so much.
I've had a lot of success with the acid loving plants. Rhodys, Mt Laurels, several different hydrangea, azaleas, andromeda, phlox, and of course, holly. I also feed them some Holly Tone to keep them extra happy
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
