bz268

If the soil turns into sand and will not hold the moisture, what is the correct way to fix it? Keep watering it doesn't seem to work.

Thanks!

kcroberge

Depending on where this is and what you are doing in the area you can add additives to the soil to make it better. If it is a flower or vegetable garden you can till in some compost and/or garden/top soil. If it is an area for your lawn you can mix in some peat moss or lawn soil.

bz268

Thanks. It is for my garden.

I did try to mix some compost to the sandy soil. It lasted of about a month or two and then it turned back sandy. Should I mix a shit load of shit (including my own) to the soil?

Oh! I also noticed that there were quite alot of ants in that area. Would that be the source of the problem?

moeronn

Definitely mix your own shit in there. In fact, it's best if you deposit straight into the garden. Crap loses potency if you have to fish it out of the toilet first. Don't worry about the neighbors seeing you. After a few weeks when your garden is the pride of the block, you fill find them doing the same thing. Just keep a camera handy for when the MILF accross the streed "fertilizes" her flower bed.

soopa

Go get a couple truck loads of quality top soil and till it in. $30/yd for soil, $100/day for a good tiller.

bz268

What is the difference between all these different kind of soil?

A friend of mine suggests me to dig out all the old sandy soil and dump new soil in there. This sounds overkill (to my back).

soopa

I wouldn't suggest digging out native soil. That's not often advised. If you do dig out soil you'll just have to replace it with fill rather then a quality top soil. Fill is usually derived from local excavation so it'd quite likely be the same crap you're dealing with.

However, if you do need to dig it out, don't worry about your back... head over to your local Hertz Equipment rental and take home an excavator/loader for the day. It'd be the best $200 you'd ever spend.

soopa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsoil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fill_dirt

dallison

that's what the dirt digging mrs. dallison says. err soil scientist,(she is looking)

dallison

may want to mix new soil with the current also so there is a good interface, if there is any textural difference

bz268

Aha! Thanks.

So, all these so called Garden Soil, Potting Soil, Soil Conditioner are all "Top Soil". The sandy soil I have is the "Fill Dirt". Somehow the "Top Soil" in my garden turns into "Fill Dirt".

There is no way to turn my sandy soil back to top soil because it will take thousands of year to decompose the dirt to soil.

Am I understanding this correctly?

So, I've got to dig it all out and dump new "top soil" to the sandy soil I have.

soopa

Well, there's differences between the different soil mixes, but yea, they're all pretty much some form of or substitute for top soil. Potting Soil, for instance, is a top soil mix with alot of peat moss or other moisture holding material.

Why your soil is "turning into sand", i've no clue. Ms Dallison might have an answer for that.

And no, you do not want to dig out soil... or at least not much of it. You want to blend top soil with your existing soil.

Scrib

What kind of sq. footage are we talking?

Scrib

Regardless, you're going to need something other than top soil to make this work.

The best solution (without knowing the size, however you did say a garden), is go with something organic. Manure, peat moss, old sod and even sawdust make for a good organic additive.

However, it should be noted that anything organic will have to be continually added back into the soil. If the size of the garden isn't too large, that is easily done with a roto-tiller and a little sweat.

Good luck.

bz268

I got a bag of "Top Soil". But... the bag said it was for "filling hole". So... what's up?

moeronn

I thought you were going to fill the whole yourself - i.e. drop the kids off at the playground - and mix it in. Sure, it might take a few weeks, but it's 100% organic and free.

bz268

they are not organic. They have been eating all kind of junk foods. Their blood maybe poison with all the chemical they eat from the junk foods.

1killercls