Handling Sand

A very light soil, sand tends to drain easily and can therefore be cultivated when other soils are lying sodden and unworkable. As it also warms up quickly, it is an ideal soil for raising early crops. However, sand is also hungry and very demanding. So the price of having an easy soil to work is the need to apply extra organic matter and plant food, in the form of fertilizers, because nutrients, as well as water, will drain away.

Digging

When you cultivate sand is relatively unimportant. It is not necessary to leave a sandy soil rough during the winter months for the frost and rain to break down. The large particles make it very easy to cultivate to a fine tillage anyway, so it is best to dig it in the spring a short while before you intend to sow or plant. If you never venture on the soil when it is so wet that it sticks to your boots, you will not go far wrong.

Drainage

During the year, sandy soil will tend to lose water, both through surface evaporation and free-draining, and this could be detrimental to the plants. To reduce the problem, spread organic matter, or mulch, over the beds between plants as often as you can. This lowers the evaporation rate and improves the soil structure.

Organic Matter

It is very important to improve sandy soils by adding substantial amounts of bulky organic material each year. Because of the quick-draining nature of the soil, the organic matter will work down into the subsoil very quickly so, to save work and to put it in the root zone, dig the organic matter into the top few inches or spread it over the surface.

Try to maintain a cover of vegetation over the surface more or less all the time, and certainly in the winter, when the "leaching" of nutrients is at its most rapid. In the vegetable garden, it is a good idea to grow a green-manure crop during the winter when the beds are empty and to dig it in during the spring. This will not only hold many of the nutrients in the soil during the winter, but will also add large quantities of organic matter.