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Good morning Workshop Community Friends. We are in Perth and our area is basically grey black sand called Bassendean Sands. It’s lifeless, hydrophobic and doesn’t hold onto nutrients. The main problem is water repellent. Our sand is that repellent you can pour water onto it and it will pool on the surface for a long time. This means it is not penetrating down into the soil to reach the plants roots system.
So how do we overcome this problem ? I’ll show you how I do it in our garden. Let’s turn Sand into Soil.
Materials
Materials I used and keep using.
Baileys Clay and Compost
Richgro Cow Manure
Vivantes Triple C Mulch
Charlie Carp Liquid Fertiliser
Tools
My Garden tools I use and can’t go without.
Garden Fork
Garden Hoe
Mini Hand Cultivar / Hoe
Garden Fork
Garden Hoe
Gloves
Mask
A quick note for ALL Gardeners. If you’re using bagged soils / mulches, even if it’s not bagged and from a trailer load.
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALWAYS WEARING A MASK.
Steps
Step 1
This garden bed is a nice sunny spot that I want to grow more Edible plants, Summer edibles. I removed weeds and an old ground cover that was struggling . The sand is so nutrient poor and hydrophobic that the weeds were struggling lol !! I just pulled them out and used my Garden fork to dig in and lift up any old roots ect.
Step 2
I added two bags of the Baileys Clay and Compost to this area, the sand is that bad I added extra. Look at the difference in quality and colour. I love this product because it has Kaolin Clay added to it. The Clay particles will coat the sand and will help with water retention.
I used my garden Hoe to spread out the compost and used my garden fork to turn it over.
This is extremely important as you do NOT leave it on top of the sand ( it will turn into a dry clump.
Step 3
Next I added two bags of Cow Manure. I made sure to turn this into the sand thoroughly. I like to add an animal manure to the soil as well as a clay compost. This will help enrich the soil. Water in well. And guess what…… no water pooling on the top !!! It’s absorbing straight away !! Ohhhh the joy of building up your soil, I love it and find it so satisfying and interesting to the change.
Step 4
Now to plant up !!!!!
I have planted in this area, Cherry Tomato, Sweet Basil, Oregano, Lemon Thyme and Heirloom Striped Cucumbers.
Before I forget , I added Dolomite Lime to the soil to give extra Calcium to the tomato to prevent it getting Blossom End Rot on the fruits.
I love using Charlie Carp as my go to liquid fertiliser. Adding it fortnightly.
Step 5
Once everything is planted and liquid fertilised it is time for Mulching.
Remember what I said…… Wear a mask when handling soils and mulches.
I love and always use Vivantes Triple C.
This beautiful mulch breaks down into a feeding compost over time and trust me when I say the Earthworms LOVE it !! It enriches the soil and encourages healthy, beneficial Microbial activity in the soil.
So that’s how I like to improve lifeless sand. And just so you know, you do need to top up as needed every few months. I will top up again going into the summer months.
Happy Gardening everyone !!!!!
Lovely work @mich1972! There's nothing like taking a barren area of soil and turning it into something that can nurture and sustain life. I can't wait to see your progress updates on this plot.
Many thanks for sharing.
Mitchell
Afternoon @mich1972
Now thats a good explanation of bringing back some poor soil! I think it would be super hard to do that in Perth. And look at that colour change 
Well done. I am over on the east coast and my garden beds get lifeless as well (My white gum kinda enjoys the good things I put in my garden beds and they are almost under it )
Cant wait to see how your plants do!
Dave
