Southeast Soil

"The Earth's is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."

In the Southeast, after digging through an inch or two of good, loamy topsoil, most of us strike clay (typically red clay). If you are closer to the coast, you probably hit sand. Either way the best thing to do is till in loads of organic matter. Soil conditioner, manure, and mushroom compost are readily available and great for improving soil fertility and structure.

Some soil mixes contain sand and partially composted pine bark or hardwood fragments (called fines). Other mixes add fly ash as a fertilizer, but those mixes also could contain heavy metals, so you might want to avoid these in your veggie garden.

Coarse “builder’s sand” or “paver sand” (not fine play sand, which compacts) also improves drainage in clay soils. But you have to incorporate this in large amounts—at least 50 percent of the total soil volume, which is not practical in large beds. Adding small amounts of sand to clay soil only creates something more akin to cement than soil.

When it comes to filling dips and holes in your lawn, don’t use sand—use topsoil or even composted cow manure. If you fill holes with sand in your clay- or loam-based lawn, you create small spots that dry out more quickly than surrounding areas, and you might get dead spots when a summer drought strikes.

(By the way, the sand myth sprang from golfers who saw golf course grounds crews top-dressing their putting greens with sand. The key difference is typically golf greens are created on soils that are almost pure sand.)