A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs need help with what to plant in poor sandy soil

Hello,

I am new here, I live in florida in zone 9 and I have a area in my backyard that we recently cleared out we live in a n area with a bunch of wild trees and bushes and we have really poor sandy soil and there is some kind of wild bush that would be to hard to take out and takes most of the nurtients from the soil.

I want to build an arbor and put a vineing plant that produces flowers in the area, but I have no clue of any kind of flowering vine that can stand poor soil. would a clematis or morning glory grow????


PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

-Arlene

Hello Arlene and welcome to the GardenHelper

Can you admend the soil with a compost/ humus mix? The clematis like to have their feet cool , I have a low growing salvia in front of mine to shade their roots, Is the area Full sun morning or afternoon ?? Morning glories will work also But It's probably better to add a good compost enriched soil to the more sandy areas to insure vigorous growth,, :wink:

morning glory will grow. where in florida are you? my answer to the rest of the question is compost, compost, compost. sandy florida soil can be ammended to be usable. been there and done that

We are in placid lakes florida right next to lake placid, I have trend amending the soil but those bushes take all the nutrients and everything from it i have tried putting lime down and what not but i will try compost again, thanks for your help though, appreciate it!

-Arlene

angelblossom, it is in a shady area right now a big pine tree is growing in the middle but we are going to cut it down so then it wll have partial sun because the bushes in the back will block some of it....

ok, with the pine tree there, you won't be able to grow anything. but search this site for "lasagna composting" or lasagna method. that will work for you. but it takes a while.

The pine tree is probably what is taking up all the nutrients. They are very hard to garden under or near.

ok thank you all again im having someone come over on sunday to cut down the tree abut we are not pulling up the roots do you think that that will make any difference or do we need to pull up the roots, its a pretty fair saized tree

it will immediately get better. if you don't want to pay a stump grinder, just have them cut the stump either high enough for you to use as a platform or flush with the ground so you don't trip on it. pulling up a pine tree root isn't as easy as it sounds because in addition to the surface spread roots, they have a tap root that is usually at least 2/3 the length of the height of the tree.

oh, wow i did not know that, thank you. I will just make them make it flush with the ground.

thank you, Jiffy!

:ding:

I am thinking maybe Browneyed daisy vines...........I used them up here last summer and heat didnt effect them.

b

forget the plant fix the soil. Of course sand is awful, but either add some garden dirt (expensive, or at least not cheap) or just add straw. It will break down and really help you out.

Enjoy the sunshine!